Bravo!

It is the source of much of our conflict that we perceive these values differently, that different equally valid perceptions of the same reality can lead to conflict.

But it is not the different subjective nature of these personal realities that is the cause of this conflict, or even our failure to understand the differences, it is the failure to see that these are simply different visions of the same reality, not wrong, just different. Some people are not even aware that others see things differently and think of things in different ways. They are as naive and childish as are members of a remote tribe so isolated that they find it inconceivable that theirs is not the only language spoken in the world.

The Canadian anthropologist Wade Davis, a man I often disagree with myself, has put it very succintly:

"The world in which you were born is just one model of reality. Other cultures are not failed attempts at being you; they are unique manifestations of the human spirit."

It is a fine line we must thread to be able to accept this fundamental truth, while simultaneously avoiding a paralyzing relativism that allows no freedom of choice or moral distinction at all. But it is a line we must seek and map in great detail if we are to avoid personal impoverishment or reckless war. We must all have these maps readily available to us, and we must also realize our map is not going to be the same as someone elses. Personal and cultural differences in how we view the world give us as individuals, and nations, our humanity. They also drive a deadly wedge between us, especially if we are so provincial we are not even aware they are there.

Stumbling across a remote wilderness waterfall is one of those experiences, like a starry night or a raging sea, that is filled with an almost breathtaking beauty, an esthetic and spiritual experience so profound that it can literally bring us to our knees and bring tears to our eyes.

And yet, to some people, it is just a manifestation of the properties of water and gravity; a fluid naturally moving from one level to another. No big deal.

Both ways of seeing that waterfall are equally "valid", and there is no reason both cannot coexist in one mind simultaneously, but I know which one I would choose if I had to, and I pity the man who has to live with only the other.

The appreciation of beauty and truth is real, even if it cannot be quantified, or objectively defined. And that beauty, or truth, is just as important and just as real and just as necessary as anything else we might think we know about the universe.