Furthest distance

I think the furthest distance between human beings would be created by- Prejudice.

"A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices" - William James

It's difficult to realise all the things we see, perceive, feel and conclusions that we have formed might not be the truth.

'Perception is reality' is actually a false statement. Our perspective are constantly being influenced by emotion, opinions, personal feelings, experience, preferences. We believe what we want to believe, see what we choose to see.

We are just living in our own subjective world.

People become friend/ couples when their idea of the other person (their bias) fits their preference. Misunderstandings lead to polarisation.

As creatures who rely so much on our brain, human beings can only take in information they are capable of comprehending. There, unless all the projections, emotions, illogical judgements eases out, then we might finally have the capacity to understand and listen to views contradicting to our existing beliefs. People then could realise, or accept, the 'truth' once they hold so firmly on, is not the reality.

So while your decision in marrying that Prince Charming might have been a shitty decision. That girl's decision in removing herself from your social group might look unreasonable to you, but in reality she gained a lot more from that choice.

What should we do? We explore.

Call me pessimistic but I don't have any hope that most people would be capable enough to look over the lens they have and make good judgements or decisions. Our education system and with the exams and everything, we are trained for so many years to take in what was taught to us, to understand and accept the things that were put on our table. Students, especially children growing up under the conservative upbringing culture, rule-following countries were not encouraged to question the status quo, second-guess what's written in the books. A healthy amount of skepticism of common narratives is an important skill to have see through fabrications, deceive and getting closer to the truth. Learning by exploring should be encouraged more in the classroom.

"I encourage all of us, whatever our beliefs, to question the basic narratives of our world, to connect past developments with present concerns, and not to be afraid of controversial issues" - Yuval Noah Harai