Do you remember those 3d glasses with lenses of different colours?
To be precise, they are called anaglyph 3D glasses.
The idea is so simple yet so clever.
Anaglyph 3D is the stereoscopic 3D effect where pictures or videos contain two differently filtered coloured images, one for each eye. When viewed through the anaglyph 3D glasses (usually with red and cyan lenses), each image reaches its intended eye. The brain combines these two images to perceive a three-dimensional scene or composition.
The idea is older than I thought; the first 3D anaglyphic film was made in 1889. I also discovered that an innovative filmmaker created a film where the viewers could choose the ending they wanted to see. By looking through the red filter, the viewers could enjoy the happy ending. If they preferred the tragic ending, they just had close one eye and watch through the green filter. Isn't that clever?
So, by observing reality through different filters, we may see different stories. And we all have filters. They are called beliefs, biases, conditioning and prejudices. If you have a brain, you have filters. It's the only way to avoid your brain being paralysed by an unmanageable flood of information.
That is why open and curious conversations are so powerful. By combining multiple filters, we can co-create a better image of reality. One that has more depth and nuances. And maybe even discover that there are more stories than we can see.
By the way, the first studies of three-dimensional imaging and depth perception were made by nonother than Leonardo Da Vinci in the 16th century. He knew that each eye perceives things from a slightly different angle and that combining these two views allows humans to perceive depth.