"What is actually happening is often less important than what appears to be happening.” - William V. Shannon

 "What is actually happening is often less important than what appears to be happening.” - William V. Shannon. “The amazing myth of George McGovern,” Dallas Morning News, 2 July 1972

- Very often, we pay more attention to what we think is happening, instead of what may actually be happening. That is, we react to what we think something is, not what it actually is. We live in a world filled with our perceptions, filled with events, patterns, meanings, and purposes which are, literally, nothing more than our best guess. We use logic, but regardless of whether the logic we use is correct or not, in use, it requires that we be able to tell what is true from what is not true. Thus, a ship exploding in a harbor is the fact, but the idea that the Spanish blew it up, is the interpretation, and so we have the start of the Spanish-American war. A tax on tea, or an assault on a ship, isn't the reason for a war, but is rather the 'Final straw'. A word someone says to us imports information, but the tone we hear them say it in tells us if they are serious or mocking. 

One of the things that we often try to do is to get to the center of things, to understand what is really happening, and to not be mislead by appearances. This is all good advice and something to try for, but in daily life when we are trying to understand relationships, politics, and comedy, we unfortunately need to realize that what we should be more concerned with is the appearance of the thing. It often doesn't matter so much if we are kind and sweet, if we appear to be a bully and a fraud, because it is only those who know us well and those who have time to get to know us, that can really tell who we are, and vise-versa. We wear masks because they so often work. This doesn't mean that we never want to take off masks, or that we should never try to understand what is really happening. Rather, it means that it is important to not be caught up in our attempts at a deep meaning, and thereby lose out on an understanding of what is happening around us. This quote is a warning to not completely discount appearances. 

It is a great question for our lives, the issue of how much the appearance actually tells us about something. As the saying goes: Once is Chance, twice is coincidence, and three times is enemy action. Sometimes appearances lie, but sometimes what appears to be is actually what is. The ability to tell the difference, to have sight to pierce through the veil of appearance, is one of the greatest abilities one can have. We are so often afraid of lies, and misled by appearances, because we equate appearances to actuality. This quote reminds us that sometimes they are, for good and bad, not the same. 

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