Biologists determine a species by similarities and differences. That’s the beginning of categorization and understanding how environments also change entities. Thing can look similar but be something entirely different. Take the apple. Sweet, juicy, and succulent, the apple is a tasty fruit. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. It is cultivated across the world and is a daily staple for many. Then there is the manchineel: a fruit that looks edible but actually isn’t. Grown in sub-tropical regions and coined “little apple of death” it is sweet-tasting, but soon your throat swells and you have intense throat burning and stomach distress.
Lizards and salamanders seem similar, but lizards are reptiles while salamanders are amphibians. As amphibians, salamanders are found close to water, while lizards can be found in a number of climates, including those that are hot and dry.
Antechinus look like mice, but are small, carnivorous marsupials native to Australia. Ravens and crows are similar, but different. Ravens are larger and usually live in pairs or alone, while crows hang around in large groups. They sound different too. Ravens have a deep hoarse croak while crows caw. And so on.
Nature can be tricky. Something can look like something else but be totally not related to it at all. There are numerous examples of living things that look like other ones, bodies that resemble other bodies, but are different. And then there things that resemble other things just by chance (ie without any environmental context). I’m thinking of pieces of burned toast that look like the Virgin Mary, the shape of a rabbit on the moon, a dragon formed by a confluence of clouds in the sky at dusk, the smile on the electric outlet. This phenomenon is called pareidolia, where the brain imposes images, patterns or sounds on something unrelated to it.
Cultural similarities and differences are interesting as well. I’m intrigued by how Islamic art and Christian Amish art share similar ideas. Both focus on creating geometric abstraction, repetition and the deliberate inclusion of one very curious design flaw. Islamic mosaics are perfect in every way, except one purposeful visual mistake. Amish quilts are monochrome, but with the addition of one brightly coloured square. The message is the same for both traditions: only God is perfect, humans have flaws. Fascinating that two very different religious traditions have come up with the same idea.
Cultural differences may or may not be recognized as such if what we initially see are similarities. Psychotherapy is mostly very Anglo-European oriented and managing our treatment of those outside our culture can be, and often is, very clumsy. I reflect on a client I had a few years ago. She was indigenous to Australia and had mixed upbringing that included both gathering medicinal herbs in healing ceremonies and attending university. I wondered how to work with her. I don’t think I was particularly useful actually, being fundamentally quite confused in how to go about therapy. I suspect a lot of my confusion came about because I wasn’t listening sufficiently closely to what she actually brought to our sessions.
Differences and similarities can befuddle us in many ways. Two clients can arrive on the same day, share a similar history, be the same gender, similar age, have the same number of siblings, have had an absent mother when they were children, pursued a similar path in life, and yet their presenting problem may be completely different. Sometimes one’s therapeutic vision is blurred when things look too similar and then one’s attention is compromised. We always need to be vigilant to what is actually present with us and not lapse into reading more into what is there. It’s so easy to bunch people and their problems into simple categories and fail to actually listen to their uniqueness. An apple may be poisonous or it may be deliciously good. A fairy godmother may bring hope or distress. A problem may be a problem to one person, but a liberation for another. Not all patterns indicate pathology. The key is to listen for differences even when things looks similar.
