How is it that two people can look at the same idea and see such opposite things?

There have always been huge discrepencies in perception. There is no way around it, actually. We think within the constructs of our language. Our truths are based in perception-based details (or, the phenomenon of our own, unique experience), and our language assumes those perceptions/shades of reality. In fact, our actual vocabulary is characterized by our history, memories, and perceptions. We are only agreeing that the a word (composed of letters–symbols) represents some external object.

Okay, an example. Say, for example, that when I was a little kid, there was a car accident and a bright yellow-green fire truck responded, and took my Dad to the hospital. And, let’s say that when you were a kid that you got to sit on top of the antique bright red fire truck during the 4th of July parade. Our perceptions–the image that is conjured in our heads when we think of the word “firetruck” are going to be different. It may not make a difference in everyday conversation, but if the word were something more important like “morality” or “liberal,” it could make a terrible difference.

Barack Obama said it on the news–that somehow, the Democratic party has shifted in the perception of Americans to NOT represent religious or centrist ideas (or, even morality apparently–it was a SIN for Catholics to vote for John Kerry–a Catholic. I am going to take the Bishops to task for that one.). Obama called for us to spend the next four years getting the Democrats back to that central value–away from the edges. Arianna Huffington just two days ago argued that we (the Democratic Party) needed a clearer message–not a centrist one. I think we need to dig a little deeper than both of their arguments imply. We need to tinker with the very language that we use, and no longer rely upon perception-based chasms to convey our meaning. We need more concrete language. We need better, more precise vocabulary.