Points of view ...  

Three of the people I work with:

one girl, I know when she hears music, it's not what I hear. I can't confidently put into words what it is, since I can't hear it, but I'm thinking it's a type of multidimensionality that she can hear. Maybe it's not uncommon. Or maybe it's normal among musicians. I don't know. But it's out of my experience.

another girl, she's got to see color, shape, and visual composition differently from me. What it is, I can't say for sure, but it's the only explanation I can come up with for why our reactions to the visual are so different between her and me.

and then there's the guy who makes magic with color, image, layout and visual design, and he's color blind. I believe that "most people" would think that someone who's color blind isn't supposed to be able to put colors together effectively. There's more to it than memorizing a color wheel, after all.

We get access to a point of view, and because we have a reason to believe it, trust it, accept it as valid, we then say it's true. How do we know that the reasons to trust, believe, and accept are themselves trustworthy? When we later get access to a different point of view, with its own reasons to believe, trust and accept as valid, how do we decide which to "vote" for?

A guy from UTA is being deported. It's reported that he confessed to once considering becoming a suicide bomber, however the deportation seems to be based on his student immigration status.

Yet his friends wonder about the confession:

"We don't know why he said that -- we know it's not true," said Khan, a permanent resident from Pakistan who lives one apartment down from Aletewi and considers him a roommate. "He abhorred the idea of suicide bombing. It is a complete mystery to us."

But they do have a theory: After a week of interrogation and jail, Aletewi made up a confession to speed his return to Jordan.

"We think maybe he decided to just get out," Hussain said.

and also from The Shorthorn article:

A Dallas representative of the American Civil Liberties Union said interrogations of Middle Eastern students became routine after Sept. 11, 2001.

"There are people from specific countries whom they question all the time," said Michael Linz, an ACLU cooperating attorney. "You hear anecdotes all the time about law enforcement telling people things would be easier if they just admitted to this or that, and off they go."

Points of view: .... he's a nascient terrorist .... he's a guy who discusses political philosophies, mentally explores alternative pathways, but who rejected the option of taking a path of violence .... he just wanted some peace and said what they wanted to hear ...

We can't know which of those is "real" ... were his friends deluded about his political beliefs? did he really represent a threat to anyone's safety? does the deportation of a person in this way "succeed" in that it promotes fear, distrust, and the suppression of individuals' discussion of political or philosophical topics?

Is my co-worker imagining multidimensionality that isn't there in the music she hears? Or am I just unable to hear the truth?

:: Sarah @ 20:11 [CT] :: permalink :: 0 comments :: links to this post

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