One of the best things about the Families in Global Transition Conference this past week was the diversity of perspectives from around the world. While all of us had an deep interest in living between worlds, we all come to it with different perspectives.
Perspective taking – it’s something I think about a lot. Below is a short video where I talk about perspective taking. Enjoy, and please add your comments on what you think it takes to hear the other side.
On Perspective Taking from Marilyn Gardner on Vimeo.
Marilyn R. Gardner 
I liked your point about making similar decisions if it had been ‘me’. I have been trying to understand the reasons why various folks have made various decisions for years. Why, for instance, some friends chose to ignore the facts of babies being murdered in the womb by a law strongly supported by Hilary Clinton to support her over Trump, who has braggadocio and disrespect for women in his past upsetting them. I want to understand how they decided that talk and rudeness was more important than the lives of children. But because of the emotions attached to each issue, it is really hard to get to the issue–we tend to be so shocked at the other’s view. I have come to understand that it is not just one issue, it is how news is presented to you over months and years. If you listen only to a liberal news source for your view of the world, you are going to have a very different view of what is happening than if you listen only to conservative news sources. I try to listen to both, daily, to better understand how those I disagree with may be reacting to events. It is hard work! I miss the days when the news was straight facts presented similarly on every station, followed by differing viewpoints on how to think about the events of the day. Now, we are not trusted to think properly about events by our newscasters, so they just tell us their viewpoint, without bothering to give us a straight presentation first, and then comment to disparage the thoughts of anyone who might disagree with them. Trying to understand an event or issue from another’s perspective is so important to help lower hostility and solve disagreements!
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