Dialogue in the Dark: A Journey into Empathy and Perspective

Dialogue in the Dark

Every day reminds me of a new challenge, a new way of thinking, and a new experience. Today was one of the most memorable. Today, we began another workshop, a continuation of our first: Intercultural Learning. The intercultural workshops are supposed to help us work in a community, a team, and I believe it has expanded and developed my mindset.

The Intercultural workshop began with a fun exercise on perspective. Groups were chosen, and the room was separated into two. The first group was flashed an image on the screen, while the second group closed their eyes. Then we switched places. After that round, we partnered up and drew the image shown to the complete group. We drew a picture that looked somewhat like a mouse. My partner disputed the image, claiming that it was an older man, not a mouse. We later learned that the first group was shown a mouse, and the second was shown an old man. Together, the images merged to create two different perspectives. This exercise reminded me that past experiences constantly shape how we see the world. And therefore, our journey into learning and respecting different perspectives began.

From there, we learned about cognitive vs. emotional empathy. Cognitive empathy is the ability to understand emotional experiences, and emotional empathy is the ability to share others' emotions. Sometimes it's difficult to understand the difference. We dived deeper, asking ourselves the question: What is the difference between perspective and empathy? We watched a brief TED Talk, and the presenter proved that in most professional situations, perspective wins over simple empathy: in healthcare, in business, and in education. Additionally, we learned about the importance of actively listening and asking questions when trying to uncover a perspective different than your own. The TED talk ended with a notable quote: "When you communicate, you share perspectives," but "when you advocate, you change them."

Afterward, we discussed how different experiences shape different people, and how we can all agree that this connection between perspectives is what is lacking in today's society. This is where true misunderstanding and hate come from. Another activity included reading a singular story told from one perspective. Then, as a group, we were instructed to write two other stories from the other characters' perspectives in the original story. It was more difficult than I had thought it would be, as I had to make sure my story made sense and followed the original storyline. Of course, I took creative freedom. I think that writing from a different perspective reveals how details are important to understanding each other, and on the other hand, telling a complete story is part of perception.

After we had our scheduled lunch, it was finally time for an exhibition I had been waiting in anticipation for all week: Dialogue in the Dark. The unique experience simulates what life is like through a blind person's perspective. This added more to our earlier discussions on perspective and empathy, and this was an exercise to truly discover how visually impaired people live. The building itself was full of braille books and interesting games that incorporated touch, sound, and situational awareness. My counselors purposely withheld details to keep it a surprise, and I am glad they did, because the situation ended up being even more powerful and immersive.

Once inside the exhibit, we were met with a guide who was blind, and I later found out that all the guides for the Dialogue in the Dark are visually impaired or disabled. She led us into a park scene, an apartment, a street scene, and a cafe, among many more. We were all given white canes to aid in our struggle for situational awareness. Truthfully, at first, I felt some panic. There were voices surrounding me from my group, and people quickly stumbling over one another. For the first few minutes, the guide struggled to keep us all contained and was used to doing tours in German. Then, we began to slowly adapt. We began feeling the walls-finding smooth velvety textures, paired with rough textures. I asked myself multiple times: How often do we take vision for granted? The answer is all the time.

One of the hardest decisions I had to make was to either open or close my eyes. Neither made a difference because both showed that I was immersed in full darkness, not a light to be seen. I found that when my eyes were open, I began to get anxious and feel slight dread. Luckily, I think I eventually found a comfortable way to move about, but I was definitely still hitting people around me.

I have never used a white cane before, and although it did aid in my journey, my cane often got intertwined with my group, causing me to stumble around aimlessly. Every few minutes, our guide would call out to us, ask our names, and tell us to continue. We went through multiple rooms, all offering the perspectives of living in a city.

The first was full of nature sounds: flowing water, chirping birds, and the whistle of the wind. There was even a small water fountain that we were able to feel. Then we moved into an apartment. I found myself shuffling my feet often and grabbing for any human being in front of me. Often, I would run into those ahead of me. For the apartment, there was little sound, so we fully relied on our sense of touch. We began touching the leather sofa, the picture frames on the walls, the hanging lion head, the coffee maker, the fridge, the microwave, the stove, the coatrack, the bookshelves, and so much more. It was particularly interesting how this experience made us work as a group-leaving me wondering whether it is hard to live alone when you are blind. We would often be calling out to each other, laughing, leading with our hands, and enjoying the collective experience.

Eventually, the apartment led into a simulation of a city street. A simulated car stood in the center, and we had to figure out how to navigate around it. The street was full of the sounds of blasting horns, yelling, and motorcycles. At one point, I did shriek at the sound of a honking car. This relayed how vulnerable one must feel in this position. The street then led into an actual blind cafe, with real people and a complete menu. I found it comforting to know that places like these exist, and they can easily help you understand (just a sliver) of what a life like this feels like.

When talking to another worker there, we started with one of his most important rules when it comes to visually impaired or disabled people: Don't help if not asked. He also answered a few lingering questions, such as: How easy is it to use your phone? In reality, it is easy because of a phone's accessibility shortcuts, allowing for constant dictation. Then, another, like how is it shaving, or shopping? Both were answered with a simple "I rely on touch." The guide was a father, and shared that he managed as a visually impaired father by tying a string to the baby when changing. Another fact I found interesting and had not even thought about before was how dreaming for blind people is different than our dreaming. If you were born blind, which is a small portion of the population, you would have never experienced any shapes or colors, or faces to dream of. Therefore, they dream in more touch-oriented ways and sounds.

Finally, we made it through the maze of doors and emerged into the light, triumphant. I was left with a departing thought that this was one of the most eye-opening, complex, and interesting exhibits or experiences I have ever been through. I feel as though everyone should experience, at least once, this kind of shared perspective and empathy. Sadly, there's no such experience in America even close to this.

Overall, I enjoyed the day, as we really dove deep into intercultural connections. This truly made me appreciate this camp in its entirety.

Look out for more of these in next coming days as I'm getting more and more attached to Hamburg.

The stunning views of Hamburg, just outside the Dialogue in the Dark exhibit