The lenses we use in life are tinged with subjectivity and perceptions, so there is no quick fix or easy solution in the appreciation of any event, especially those that affect us emotionally.
In the theory of knowledge, subjectivity is the property of perceptions, arguments and language based on a person’s point of view, and therefore influenced by that person’s particular interests and desires. The opposite property is objectivity, which bases them on an unbiased, detached and separate point of view.
Perception , in turn, is the psychic function that allows the organism, through the senses, to receive, elaborate and interpret the information coming from its environment. In other words, it is elaboration and interpretation through the senses, and therefore, a personal and subjective visualization of reality. This is a definition that recalls the saying that life looks like the color of the glass through which it is seen.
Data, information, facts and concepts are processed by each person, and from them, one forms one’s own story, that is, one’s own subjective and non-objective version of things. In a broad view of the facts, whatever they may be, unless one has sufficient distance and no interest, an objective assessment of any event is virtually unattainable.
Let’s look at a simple example. Costa Rica managed to advance to the second round at Italia 90, after beating Sweden. They then lost to the Czechs in a heavy defeat. This is the truth, and yet, depending on one’s personal vision, this can be seen as an unprecedented triumph or a demonstration of small-mindedness and small-town conformism, of success or half-success. Of course, the country’s history defines it as a triumph and thus, we all get excited with the feat that for the Brazilians would have been a failure and ridiculous. The data is one thing and the history afterwards is another.
To achieve objectivity, as indicated in the first paragraph, impartiality is necessary, which is generally achieved in the absence of prejudices, or rather, far from previously assumed value judgments. A distance from the facts is also necessary, or, failing that, any assessment will be influenced by the natural bias that comes from involvement or closeness.
In addition to the complexity of an appraisal or judgment, emotions end up influencing the result, since subjectivity and perception, among other variables, are susceptible to be affected by anger, pain, sadness, euphoria, envy, joy, anguish, serenity, anxiety and many others. Consequently, the appreciation of the facts is a difficult question to get right in the point of the objective and balanced.
In our culture influenced by zero-sum games, we are regularly caught in the trap of believing that we must be right or prove others wrong. We find it difficult to accept that we are generally all right, all wrong and all confused, so defending positions is often harmful, as is denial or blocking.
In this context, conciliation, ceding positions and empathetic listening seem advisable, even if we often find it difficult to do so. No one side has the whole truth, and certainly, no story is completely objective. There are only some that reflect more people than others, and therefore seem true to those majorities. At the end of the day, it is up to each person to decide what he or she believes, although many make the frequent mistake of believing or being believed, without deciding.
In any case and to summarize, I choose to believe that in order to seek objectivity it is necessary to reduce the space for subjectivity and perceptions, or we will be in the trap of looking at life with lenses tinted with a personal color, not necessarily realistic, balanced and truthful.
(Definitions of subjectivity and perception, taken from Wikipedia)
