Person with a torch in a dark cave looks up at a glowing chandelier holding many symbolic objects connected by lines.

Imagine standing in a dark room holding a torch. You shine it onto one object — that becomes your focus, your certainty, your “truth.” Someone else switches on a lamp, revealing everything else in the room. The object you saw is still there, but now it makes sense within a larger pattern or context. Our cultural lenses work the same way Our lens directs the beam. Our bias narrows it. Our curiosity widens it. See more