Powerful Realization (London, UK)
In the process of experiencing so many "mistaken identities" (People thinking I am from Japan, etc...) from people all over the world, I came to a powerful and simple realization. That everyone, or almost everyone in the world, could be wrong about something except me. In this case, I know I am an American. I would say close to 100% of the people who I had not spoken a word to and guessed my identity did not say American, let alone Chinese. In different countries, I was whatever they were familiar with - such as Philippino in Dubai, since there are many Philippino migrant workers. In Indonesia I was almost always thought of as Japanese.
For those where I did speak a few words of English, they were often wrong too. Only in situations where I had clearly spoken alot of English already and the person "appeared" to be of more intelligence (Don't ask me to define this), did they either guess right, or not guess at all - and ask. Never assume I would tell people in a somewhat annoyed voice.
At first blush, stating that I am the only right person sounds arrogant. Well this could be said about you too. You might know something about a particular subject or idea and you could be the only "Right" person in the world. In this case, I know my own past - unless my parents aren't telling me something!
I thought about every invention, idea, or belief in the history of the world - in a broad sense of course, some seemingly small and insignificant, and realized that at some point - that inventor / idealist was likely the only person in the world who was right about that subject at that very moment. That means thousands, millions, or billions of other people were wrong - whether they asked the question or not.
Of course - whether the truth reaches other people to become a more accepted truth is another completely separate matter. (The barrel of a gun? The screen of a TV?) But, for some of the major questions I had about life - it matters little to me what others think of the answer I may or may not have found. I would be more concerned with what others thought of the method or how I approached a particular question.
For those where I did speak a few words of English, they were often wrong too. Only in situations where I had clearly spoken alot of English already and the person "appeared" to be of more intelligence (Don't ask me to define this), did they either guess right, or not guess at all - and ask. Never assume I would tell people in a somewhat annoyed voice.
At first blush, stating that I am the only right person sounds arrogant. Well this could be said about you too. You might know something about a particular subject or idea and you could be the only "Right" person in the world. In this case, I know my own past - unless my parents aren't telling me something!
I thought about every invention, idea, or belief in the history of the world - in a broad sense of course, some seemingly small and insignificant, and realized that at some point - that inventor / idealist was likely the only person in the world who was right about that subject at that very moment. That means thousands, millions, or billions of other people were wrong - whether they asked the question or not.
Of course - whether the truth reaches other people to become a more accepted truth is another completely separate matter. (The barrel of a gun? The screen of a TV?) But, for some of the major questions I had about life - it matters little to me what others think of the answer I may or may not have found. I would be more concerned with what others thought of the method or how I approached a particular question.
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