Perspective

An exercise in perspective.

Picture a field.

Place a farm building in that field. It’s a familiar setting. You know this field and this building. A fence meanders around. You see a bird.

Pause for 30 seconds. See the details in your mind’s eye.

Here’s what the AI image generator created when I fed it that description:

Is that what you pictured?

It doesn’t look at all like what I pictured. I live in the rural northeast, so my field is green, and although I do have hills in the background, they are east coast green rolling hills. I pictured a red and white barn with a cow fence similar to the one in the left-most picture (though not exactly).

My bird is sitting on a fence post. It’s a red-tailed hawk.

Maybe yours looks like one from the AI-generated set, or maybe it looks more like mine. Maybe it’s completely different.

My image could only have come from me. Likewise, your image could only have come from you.

My personal history created mine. Your personal history created yours. Whether similar or completely different, each is perfectly valid.