# 160: Intercultural Perspectives
Story behind the Passage
On some days, you just understand how blind you have been for such a long time. And then, as soon as you found out about this, there is not much more to say. This is why I have chosen this booklet from 1978 entitled It Looks Like This — in six different languages. My dear friend L. left it with me when she moved abroad and I kept some of her boxes in storage. “If you are interested in any of this, keep it,” she said. “Otherwise, throw it away.” Of course, I had to keep this treasure with its yellowed type-written pages. It stands for everything I stand for: intercultural communication, intercultural mediation — intercultural being.
Unfortunately, I tend to forget this over and over again.
Then someone makes me aware of it.
And then I feel what it actually means to me.
When I think of all the things I have done, researched, and written about. When I think of the people I know and the things I treasure. All this is about bringing people from different cultures together. No, not only bringing them together. Bringing them together, so they reach understanding — and peace. Yes, this was the missing piece of the puzzle. You contribute to peace making when you work on intercultural dialogue — no matter what these cultures actually are, e.g., national, educational, disciplinary ones. This mission of peace building sounds so flower-power-like naïve that only people with big visions and the courage to be naïve can pursue it.
But it takes time to understand this.
My Learnings
“Because that was how they found out that one thing can look many different ways — as many different ways as there are ways to look at it.” The story is about mice and cows. Both look different, depending on the angle from which you look at them individually. The same applies to people and life itself. But if you learn to look at things from so many different perspectives, you run into trouble. All of a sudden, there is no “right” and “wrong” anymore. There are just perspectives. That can almost kill you. Because you cannot position yourself somewhere in particular. You cannot argue for or against anything as all others can easily do. You cannot make decisions easily. You cannot blame people easily because you understand them — and you understand the others as well who are blaming them.
And then you struggle.
You feel lost.
You feel angry.
You envy the people with only one perspective.
You fight the people who are laughing at you when they see “no clear perspective” in you.
And then one day, you realize that all this is meant to be. That only people who have the experience and ability to see all these pespectives and speak these different languages have the power to alleviate conflict — to help people solve intercultural conflicts — to create peaceful coexistence with one another. This is such a powerful thing that it is hard to describe. You can immediately see it in the face of people when conflict eases and understanding emerges. It dries the tears and heals the wounds — with scars and memories remaining.
This is what I came to realize today — in its full scope, with all its power. And this gift of intercultural conflict resolution is bigger than one person, bigger than some single company’s purpose. It is a real mission and joy that fills the heart. And it is needed more than anything in today’s world. But the smart people from more than 40 years ago knew this already. What they wrote back then equally applies today. It does not matter if we have e-books nowadays and the internet. What people need to learn today is the same that the mice learned in the book. I will end with the epilogue of the book because I have nothing to add to it.
Reflection Questions
1) Do you ever struggle with seeing too many perspectives? In which situations?
2) What is the most severe intercultural conflict in the world right now according to your perspective?
3) Which skills does a great diplomat need?