In a behavioral experiment, a child sat facing a stranger (the experimenter). Two toys were placed between the child and stranger. However, a wall occluded one toy from the experimenter’s view but not the child’s view. Thus, the child perceived two toys, whereas the experimenter only perceived one toy. The experimenter then asked the child to give him the toy. If the child considered the experimenter’s visual perspective and realized that the experimenter could only perceive one toy due to the placement of the wall, the child should conclude that the experimenter was referring to the toy that was visible. Infants that are18-months of age fail to make such inferences. However, significantly more 24-month-old infants reached for the toy which was visible to the experimenter (Moll & Tomasello, 2006). Humans, even as early as two years old, have an understanding that perception can vary depending on someone’s perspective.

What is the advantage of seeing the world from different perspectives?

Can an individual switch their viewpoint of something as if they saw it from a different person’s perspective?

Since my childhood, one of my favorite animated Disney movies has been Mulan. Recently, a live-action version of the movie was made. In the time period in which the movie was set, gender stereotypes were pervasive across society, and females were expected to act a certain way. Mulan was different in that she did not want to conform to this stereotype or behave the way everyone thought females should.

In the story of Mulan, the Huns were trying to invade China. The Chinese emperor required one member of each family to join the Chinese army to fight the Huns. Mulan's father should have gone to the army but had an injured leg. Mulan sympathized with him and took his place. She cut her hair and disguised herself to be male so she could join the military and protect her father.

While Mulan was in the army, she fought the Huns and was almost killed by one member. Luckily, Mulan had a cannon in her hands and came up with the idea to cause an avalanche by hitting a surface of the mountain covered by snow because it could defeat more enemies rather than the single enemy just in front of her. With this innovative idea, Mulan circumvented this challenging situation.

Though you may not see the connection immediately, Mulan’s idea made me think of Dr. Yukawa, who won the Nobel Physics prize in 1949. One of the most famous achievements of Dr. Yukawa was his discovery of meson. (In actuality, he did not physically discover it; he theoretically predicted its existence.)

Let's look at the world at the smallest scale possible. If an object or material is chopped in half, it would be divided into two fragments. If we repeat this chopping infinitely, the result would be the minimum unit of matter, which is an atom.

At the center of an atom lies the atomic nucleus, around which electrons orbit. This is akin to a planet orbiting around the Sun in our solar system. I have to say, it is a miracle that the smallest unit of matter, the atom, contains the largest unit of space, the universe. The atomic nucleus is composed of neutrons and protons. The Earth revolves around the orbit of the solar system due to the gravitational force of the sun. This gravitational force, which is produced by the distortion of space, connects the Earth to the sun. Now, are neutrons and protons also bound by universal gravity? The answer is NO.

Universal gravity is correlated with weight (G・Mm/R2). Gravitational force is stronger between heavier objects. However, neutrons and protons do not possess the weight required to generate the universal gravity that keeps them together. Something other than gravity is binding neutrons and protons. What is actually binding neutrons and protons has been a long-standing question that puzzles many physicists. Dr. Yukawa was one of such theoretical physicists that grappled with this question. When he was thinking about this problem, a scene of playing catch with his child suddenly came to his mind. At that moment, Dr. Yukawa had come up with an idea that neutrons and protons must stick together by exchanging something between them, like how two people paying catch are connected by exchanging a ball. Consequently, he proposed the meson theory, suggesting that neutrons and protons exchange particles called mesons, leading to their binding and forming atomic nuclei.

Note that there are some camps that believe this anecdote was created after the fact and is fiction. However, if we assume the story is true, it expands our consideration of how ideas originate. Thus, I thought inclusion of this anecdote was appropriate.

Both Mulan and Yukawa came up with a novel solution to a problem. What did they have in common? They perceived a single external entity as having several aspects and they extracted a novel function or meaning from one of these aspects. When you look at a single object from various perspectives, you might see it in a completely different way and this may lead you to an idea which you would have never thought of before.

Reference

Moll, H., & Tomasello, M. (2006). Level 1 perspective‐taking at 24 months of age. British Journal of Developmental Psychology, 24, 603-613.