Context is key
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet."—William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
We have been referring to the graphic at left as a shamrock. Does anyone know another name for it? What if we call the shamrock a clover instead? Will that change it? In this lesson, we will explore label confusion, and how parts of a whole, taken out of context, can be mislabeled and misunderstood. Let’s start by acting out a short play. We will need four volunteers to play the roles of one teacher/wise person and three students/young people. (Click on the icon in the bottom right corner of the Scribd screen below to view in optimal format; original source: Om Shanti Journal, Summer 2013.) |
Illustrating the concept
What did the three young people learn in the play? What is the moral of the story?
Can you think of a time when you had a fight because you didn't have all the information you needed to understand what the other person was saying? Can you think of a time when you had a misunderstanding with someone because something you did or said was taken out of context? There is a fable that most likely originated in an ancient Buddhist scripture that illustrates this point. But first, let's look at a few images:
Can you think of a time when you had a fight because you didn't have all the information you needed to understand what the other person was saying? Can you think of a time when you had a misunderstanding with someone because something you did or said was taken out of context? There is a fable that most likely originated in an ancient Buddhist scripture that illustrates this point. But first, let's look at a few images:
Take a minute to look at the images at left.
What do you see in the first image? What do you see in the second image? Now click the button below. |