What It's Like

How much time do we spend thinking about what it's like on the other side of things?  Do we consider things from other people's perspective?  Or, do we simply render judgment from a safe distance?  

I have written on similar topics to this several times (including The Other Person's Shoes and Judging Others Part 1 and Part 2), and I am going to continue writing about it, because I think this is a highly forgotten part of many of our discussions on controversial moral topics.  

I would like you to watch the music video "What It's Like" by Everlast.  You can find the video itself here (censored) and the audio with lyrics here (explicit).  As you watch, please pay attention to the people in the stories and take a minute to consider things from their perspectives.  

Thinking about things from the other person's perspective should not change your thoughts on whether an action is moral or not.  But, it should change how you feel about the person(s) who have performed an act you find objectionable.  There is a difference between saying that a particular action is wrong and treating someone who has done that action as a horrible person (see Morality and Fitness).  Please remember this.