It is definitely possible that people can perceive the same situation and see different problems with it. As a person with naturally curly hair, every once in a while I decide to straighten in. People will often come up to me and say it looks much better that way and that I should wear it that way always or more often. This always kind of hurts because to them, it is like a compliment. They are calling me pretty. However, to me, it feels like they are putting down something that is an inherent part of me, literally saying I would look better if I damaged my hair every day rather than curate it. In an environment that is predominately Eurocentric features, straight hair has stereotypically been seen as the standard and so the "sleek" look over the "messy" look is preferred. Therefore, to people commenting on my hair, they see a solution, just straighten my hair. For me, I now see a problem. Do I take them as correct and start straightening my hair, see them as correct and continue as I am, or ignore their comments entirely? Depending on your background and environment the way you see the world is coded entirely differently.

As a Starbucks barista, people often don't know what they are asking for. For example, someone has come through before asking for a hot green tea. Therefore, we gave them a tea bag green tea. However, quite frustrated, when we gave it to them, they said it was usually actually green. Turns out they wanted a hot matcha latte (which technically still is a hot green tea). The confusion could have been avoided if we clarified when taking the order, or if the customer took the time to actually know their order (since they clearly had had it before).

In my high school chemistry class, my teacher described how when elements became ions, anions wanted electrons and cations were trying to get rid of them. It worked because it helped explain the basic process of what makes an ion, but it was limited in how it explained how ionic compounds are formed since there is more push and pull there.

When I think of a mental model I think of it as a certain lens through which we see the world and function. I feel like the word model, whether or not it is, has the connotation of being a bit rigid. However, when it comes to learning I think it is important for your mental model to be flexible so that you are able to understand concepts on all scales.

When I think of a mental model I think of it as a certain lens through which we see the world and function. I feel like the word model, whether or not it is, has the connotation of being a bit rigid. However, when it comes to learning I think it is important for your mental model to be flexible so that you are able to understand concepts on all scales.