More Than Meets the Eye

Inspecting a person - particularly attempting to discover who they really are - has been the focus of countless soap operas, detective thrillers, and conversations the world over. One would think that after countless decades of experience, the human race would have discovered a methodical process with which we can understand one another. Alas, our insight of one another remains bleak and foggy in several areas, as 3 in 4 people report encountering stereotypes on a daily basis. How to remedy this global miscommunication? Perhaps we as a society can start with focusing on the simple details of one another; after all, as the popular phrase goes, “the eyes are the windows to the soul”. 

Or are they? After all, if the way we currently view one another has perpetuated misunderstandings the world over, would not the quality of the windows we currently use have some contribution to our blurred vision? In fact, I would assert that while our eyes allow us to look out of our proverbial homes, they provide little insight to those attempting to look within. Perhaps while we do need windows in order to share insight, they need to be removed of their tints so that accurate communication can occur.

I would suggest the mouth and the ears to be where one begins their search into the depths of another’s heart. While lacking the poetic elegance of the iris, the mouth and ears can provide a different - and more useful - set of information. The eyes can determine another’s appearance and involuntary movements, but as they focus on those subliminal details, they inevitably detract from a person’s actions. The ears, on the other hand, pick up a person’s voice - not only their words themselves, but how they present them and why they choose to do so. A person’s appearance no longer is the sole presentation of their character when true listening is involved. And as one’s ears take information in from the outside, one can respond verbally, allowing for true two-way interchange instead of one-sided opinion-making based on details that a person may not even have control over. So when considering an individual for the first time, I would hope that you consider which focus truly reveals more about a person: a single glimpse of a person that the viewer mostly generates of their own accord, or the careful observation of what someone says and does in order to contribute to your perception of their personality. It is true that windows cannot provide the entirety of contact with another person - one has to get out of their house in order to achieve such. However, making sure that a first impression is not simply a self-conceived visual illusion, but rather a contribution between both speaker and listener, can contribute to a mutual understanding that acknowledges that another person’s essence is composed of more than meets the eye.