Through Different Eyes

Hannah Riess

Mrs. Wagener

English 11 AP

11, August 2013

Through Different Eyes

            Everyone sees the world around us through a different set of eyes. No two people have been faced with the same experiences in life or have the same perspectives and beliefs on certain issues and subjects. However, people can be easily swayed to look at things in a different way when a factor of their senses changes. In the “Kant” chapter of Sophie’s World, Alberto places a pair of red tinted glasses on Sophie and forces her to view the world from a new perspective. This experiment, incomplex yet brilliant, expresses that most opinions should be seen as logical because there are a countless number of perspectives on every situation.

            The red tinted glasses experiment demonstrates how we cannot solely rely on what we see because what we see or hear through our senses is not always truthful. Although the world around Sophie is red when she puts the lenses on, everything returns to its natural color when she takes them off. The tinted glasses symbolize the different perspectives and beliefs people have. Just because one person’s views on the world, situation, or person are different, does not mean they are incorrect because in reality, we do not unquestionably know what is right or wrong. In my opinion, I do not think that we can have a definite answer to anything in life because the way we perceive everything in the world is based on our experiences and no two people in the world have experienced the same things. Even though it is challenging to recognize your beliefs as being incorrect, the opinions of others should always be considered because nobody has the right to judge them to be correct or incorrect.

            In my own experiences, I have often been deceived by what I have perceived with my senses. As a teenager in high school, you often hear rumors and bad things about other people. I have learned that you cannot always go by what you hear. I know now that I should use my reason and get to know the person before I go on making any judgments about someone’s character. Just like I will not know a person’s character before I get to know them, I will not know the true characteristics of the world because everyone sees the world through their own set of eyes.

            Overall, the “Kant” chapter has impacted me the most. I believe it is vital to recognize everyone has the right to their own perspectives and to recognize everyone perceives things in a different way. Even through our senses and reason, we will never know definite answers about anything in the world. The different opinions are what make our world the unique place it is today. In a way, we all have our own set of “red tinted glasses”.