In some way, we even know that other people know. We try to hide behind many masks—makeup, perfume, elegant suits, toupees—but still feel uneasy when meeting new people: “will they see through me?” Luft posses an important question at this point:
How does one learn more about one’s opaque or blind area, Q2? . . . This is not sophistry but an accurate statement of prevailing knowledge. And for very good reason—the most complicated subject is man, man in relations with others and in relation to himself. Nothing is more important; and yet systematic, confirmable inquiry has only just begun in this century. But surely learning about himself and his opaque area has been going on since the beginning of time; man must have learned a great deal. Yes, he has, but how much is valid is still unknown.
Let us return to Joe Luft for one final comment about this daunting and paradoxical task:
In effect, we are compelled to take our stand behind two positions. The first is to continue the struggle for enlightenment using the best of the known ways, and adding to these with whatever ingenuity and originality we can bring to bear. The second is to recognize that we will remain blind and unaware, to some extent, regardless of our growth and actualization, and to develop a degree of humility in the face of this reality. Is this a pessimistic view? I don’t think so, unless one is determined that the tragic and the comic both can be expunged from interpersonal experience.
The socio-critical theorists (Continental School) suggest that we are often “blind” not just to how other people see us, but also to our social constructions of reality, to the prescribed role we play in society (often at the expense of other people who are less fortunate), and to our prejudices and biases regarding people who differ from us in some important way. This societal source of “blindness” may ultimately be the most threatening to our personal sense of being thoughtful, responsible and caring citizens of the world. It may also be particularly hard to address given the widespread support in all societies for these forms of collective “blindness.”
