The Power of Perspectival Nimbleness

Spring in The Netherlands doesn’t just bring tulips and sunshine—it also stirs something in us: the itch to clean, reset, and renew.  For many of us, that means clearing out cobwebs at home or jumping back on the exercise bandwagon. But this year, I’d like to propose a different kind of spring cleaning—and a different form of exercise. One that targets not our homes or bodies, but our minds.

Last week, I read a book by Dutch philosopher Lammert Kamphuis, whose title translates to Addicted to our own rightness ("Verslaafd aan ons eigen gelijk", ). In it, Kamphuis makes a compelling case for developing what he calls “perspectival nimbleness”—our ability to shift perspectives and see the world through different eyes. It’s his proposed antidote to the growing fear of unfamiliar or opposing viewpoints, and a way to stretch our thinking beyond the boundaries of our social and ideological bubbles.

It’s a challenging plea to heed in these times, when more than ever there are highly divisive events occurring in society that are infringing on people’s human rights. Nevertheless, Kamphuis argues, it is crucial to practice our nimbleness, not to change our minds (necessarily), but to better understand others. He references studies showing that while our opinions may be growing further apart (“content polarization”), what’s rising even faster is “affective polarization”—the amount of dislike and distrust we feel toward those with opposing views.

If we want to confront the complex challenges of our time, Kamphuis suggests, we must learn to move through difference with curiosity instead of contempt. And that means practicing our mental flexibility—our ability to imagine another perspective not just as plausible, but as human.

Kamphuis encourages us to seek out unfamiliar viewpoints in the real world—but at FlickThink, we believe cinema offers another powerful path to that same destination. We can travel across cultures, through time and through different layers of society. We can be a privileged teenager holidaying with her family in Thailand, a disposable clone endlessly reborn in a dystopian nightmare, even a cardinal with dreams of becoming Pope. But what, then, do we do with that new perspective? What does it add to our lives? And what value does it bring to our broader community?

This is where I think we can go further. In his book, Kamphuis offers a series of practical exercises to build perspectival nimbleness—think of them as yoga-as-exercise for your belief system. At the core of many is a Marie Kondo–style decluttering of your mental shelves: take a belief down, examine it, and ask not only “Does this spark joy?” but also:

• What values ground this belief?

• What alternatives exist?

• Who might believe something different—and why?

Some of these alternatives, he says, we need to go out and find in society: by going to a pub we wouldn’t normally go to, by joining a sports club that has diversity in its membership, by volunteering. But perhaps we could also go out and find them in our visual media. Consciously look for films, documentaries, TV shows which don’t just give us a different perspective on something, but which help us understand where someone with a diametrically opposed opinion could be coming from. One such piece of media that comes to mind is the documentary Behind the Curve (2018), which follows a community of people who believe the earth is flat.  It’s an empathetic portrait of the cost of marginal beliefs and at the same time an indictment of perspectival rigidity. Or consider The Hunt (Jagten) (2012), a Danish drama that plunges us into the moral panic of a man falsely accused—forcing us to empathize with someone we might otherwise vilify.

 So this spring, alongside airing out the closets and dusting off the yoga mats, let’s take a moment to stretch something deeper—our ability to imagine the world through someone else’s eyes. Whether it’s through a thought-provoking documentary, a conversation with someone outside your usual circles, or simply by questioning a long-held belief, let’s treat perspectival nimbleness not as a luxury, but as a vital form of mental fitness. Because if we want to live in a society that is not just informed but also empathetic, not just clever but also kind, we’ll need more than just strong opinions—we’ll need supple minds.

Author: Nanna Freeman

Nanna Freeman is a FlickThink founder and lecturer Critical Thinking at The Hague University of Applied Sciences.