Perspective changes everything. Take a particular object, put it in a specific time and place, and you see how it differs compared with an almost identical one. And since such an experiment would probably be slightly too elaborate for real life, Bored Panda has compiled this entertaining collection of the most surprising comparisons.
From comparing a chimpanzee fingertip with a human fingertip to photos of a man before and after walking across China for the whole year, these are side-by-side shots that show the weird and the wonderful side of the world we live in. So pull your chair closer, get your popcorn ready and tune in for the list that puts a spin on the good old “spot the difference” game.
After you’re done, make sure to check out our previous posts with incredible comparisons here, here, and here.
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1st Picture Was The Peak Of My Depression. 2nd Is A Recent One After Almost An Year Of Medication And Self Care
From 2.5 Months To Nearly 2 Years
First Day Of Chemo vs. Last
Perspective is a beautiful power to subject things to. Not only do we start seeing their beauty, as in the cases of these comparisons, it can also make us feel better. You see, while putting things in perspective, we are selecting a particular mode of seeing them, and it doesn't just feel like it, our brain actually does it.
Scientists say that changing perspective is a healthy exercise if we want to be empathetic, rational and compassionate. However, changing perspective is not merely about seeing things from the point of view of another. It's just as much about gaining perspective.
Lost 200 Pounds In A Year. 360 Lbs vs. 160 Lbs
Age 12 vs. 16 - My Drawing Progress
Before And After Being Told She's A Good Girl
Changing one’s perspective has to do with the point of view in which you stand. By stepping outside of our usual perspectives, it can become possible to frame arguments in ways that motivate others instead of leaving them feeling rejected, for example. In a similar way, you can start seeing things not as simply black or white, good or bad, but in a more complex light. This will get us out of the loop of negativity, prejudice and other negative emotions.
On The Left Is My Grandmother Holding My Dad And The Right Is Me Holding My Son, Taken Exactly 63 Years Apart
Genetics is so cool, my parents always told me I looked like my dad's mom but I never got to meet her before she passed away.
Becoming Mothers Together
Same Waterfall, 3 Seasons. Skógafoss, Iceland
Yesterday I Took My Grandmother On Her First Bike Ride In 59 Years, I Need A New Word For Awesome
I Bought My First Bike One Year Ago Today
I Just Want A Bigger Pocket Please, Is That Too Much To Ask For? Sincerely, Women Everywhere
Tiny Cute Rabbit Compared To A Palm
Never Thought I’d Be Able To Use My Hand Again. Shout Out To The Surgeon And Therapist
This Is What 6 Years Of Practice Looks Like - My Art In 2015 vs. 2021
Me And My Dad. 1982 And 2021. Both Age 20, 39 Years Apart
Before And After I Asked Her If She Knew How Cute She Was
I’ve Finally Recreated It
Perspective Size Of The Humpback Whale
Cheers To 2 Years Of Health! 100 Lbs Lost And Maintained For A Year
How many calories would you need to eat to lose that much weight in only 2y? Anybody knows? I have been eating 1400kcal a day on average for the last five months and I lost three kgs... :( I am aiming for 1200 now but its difficult to be able to cook nice meals at the same time.
Before And After Of My 8-Year Project (1972 Datsun 240z Restomod)
Canadian Passport vs. Canadian Passport Under A Black Light
Head Size Difference Between A Man And An Adult Cane Corso
Adorable Meetings
1930’s Parquet Flooring Restored Today. Before And After Comparison
6 Years Ago Today I Had A Surgery To Straighten Up My Spine, This Is The Before/After Result. I Gained 5cm With The Process
Before And After Of My DIY Driveway. I Made The Paving Stones And The Driveway
Before And After Of A Man Who Walked Across China For A Year
Size Of Orangutan Compared To A Human
8 Weeks vs. 8 Months
Example Of Class Disparity In South Africa
And that's why it should be higher. It's important to give visibility in order to give a chancecto act.
Load More Replies...i am from south africa if the leaders of the country will stop stealing the money ment for the poor then things would be alot better but if you have a government that cant even keep the lights on dude to years of mismanagement and stealing there is bound to be a huge divide.
100% agree! Total mismanagement of a beautiful country.
Load More Replies...Im probably going to be flamed here but... Pictures like this are used a lot to show unfairness but there is more going on here. What you see is the ledge of the original city. The poor houses are illegal squatters on probably farmland where there is no electricity etc. There are just too many people andbtge government does not build new neighborhoods etc because of the funds being corrupted away.
It is also not a race issue anymore. These days there are black people living in those nice houses. The local top guys buddies etc. The white peolple left long ago fearing for their lives. You can imagine that the crime rate and racial hate is very high there.
Load More Replies...Yu can find this kind of disparity anywhere in the world. This image could be California just as easily.
You're right, but it's more extreme in developing countries. The US has extreme poverty and a huge population of homeless people (especially in California), but it's not nearly as extreme as countries like South Africa or Bangladesh.
Load More Replies...Nailycat, South Africa belongs to all people. Don’t try to politicise and make this a racial thing, if you know what you are talking about then please go ahead and educate us all, but making stand alone comments like that makes you look like a fool.
Rhodes was an imperialist, businessman and politician who played a dominant role in southern Africa in the late 19th Century, driving the annexation of vast swathes of land. He founded the De Beers diamond firm which until recently controlled the global trade. Scholarships allowing overseas students to come to Oxford University still bear his name. Many institutions, including Cape Town University itself, benefited from his largesse. Both Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) were named after him.
Load More Replies...Imagine living close to the street and seeing that mansion with the pool everyday... So close yet so far
I found where this is. It’s Primrose, Johannesburg, and that’s a clinic and public swimming pool. The area is far from rich
Load More Replies...You can see the same thing in Los Angeles. Or San Diego. Or Oakland...
Socioeconomic conditions are very much affected by both.
Load More Replies...Competition to be the worst place in the world. Lol.
Load More Replies...I once looked at a detailed building-by-building map of a ruined Aztec city, and you could see where the slums were! Yes, even in ancient civilizations, some areas had big, widely spaced buildings on streets that were planned out, and some had tiny buildings crammed closed together on random-looking alleys.
Well, it's not like ancient people were more enlightened and had governments that were concerned about poverty. Greed is as old as the Wheel!
Load More Replies...It's just bizarre. How bad does a government have to be to allow this kind of development.
It’s the same in the U.S. You cross towns and you think you’re in a different country.
At first I thought the pictures were side by side. I didn't realise they were separated by a single road.
I am from South Africa. We DO NOT have a poor country. We have a POORLY RUN country. Read up about the theft of state funds and the grand scale looting of public money by the government of South Africa. If there was not billions upon billions being stolen, no-one here would have to live in poverty. But people keep voting the same corrupt, fat cats who don't give a s**t about them, into power and blaming all of the issues in the country on white people and foreign nationals.
Keep the people fighting amongst each other about their race and who has what and who doesn't and give the angry people something tangible to direct their anger at, like white people and foreign nationals, and the government is free to steal and loot as they please. The people of South Africa need to take their blinkers off, put their big pants on and face the facts that are before them and unite as PEOPLE of South Africa, instead of dividing themselves in their race and tribal groups, and stop allowing this to happen.
Load More Replies...Looks about right for a current real estate industry. For same "class" people who happened to be born at different times
First get the storie straight most of those people living on the right hand side choose to live like that cause then they don't need to pay for water and electricity and also they don't have property tax Second most of them are only staying there because its close to their place of work and they have big houses in their home town/country
I live in South Africa and while poverty is very real in our country, the majority of squatters (those living in informal houses, made of wood, corrugated iron) have beautiful houses in the rural areas. They choose not to spend money on their dwelling close to work, but rather the place where they retire one day. I guess it's all about perspective.
Amazing how many people (Americans) are saying it's the same throughout the world. Maybe the next version of this comparison post needs to have pictures of extreme poverty in the US vs extreme poverty in a poorer, developing country. It's the same thing only in your mind.
If things keep going the way they are with housing, this will soon be like this in every country.
So heartbreaking that this is "human nature". We can do so much better.
I Am Sure To Get Some Down Arrows But I Believe Everyone Deserves A Good Home A Good Vehicle And A Job
On the left they work very hard for their wages ... on the right, no wages?
Without a location, I found a similar situation in NE Capetown. That indicates to me that the view in the photo probably isn't very unusual. And again in Jo'berg, in two places. And these are not exhaustive searches.
I wouldn't feel safe living so close to such probable resentment (resentment with good reason, I might add).
Don't act surprised by the meaning of the "Other side of the tracks". Jeesh. Everybody been seeing that all our lives still... Everywhere. I'm on the busy side. Hey Ya'll.
The same as anywhere in the world in a major city with the exception of places like Rio d J and Cairo etc
The end result of decades of systemic racism. Apartheid is gone, but like slavery in America, its legacy remains.
That's not an equal comparison. Look at the size of the roads. The right side is zoomed out much more. Me thinks this is photo-shopped
I saw a mini bio on YouTube of this, they were separated by a river though, so sad
I've been there. The privileged houses have double fences with dogs patrolling in between.
And somehow, despite this, I have a feeling the sense of community is much stronger on the right side. Neighbours probably help each other out and care for each other there. I've seen this in areas of Mexico as well and can vouch that those who are disadvantaged are generally more generous and caring for each other (I'm not endorsing disparity, just an observation)
Stop romantizising poverty, please. This is unfair and should be change.
Load More Replies...You see this all over the world. Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to share wealth , unfortunately there are too few people willing to help.
So the only thing the abolition of apartheid brought was that a semi-racist white government was replaced by a corrupt black government, but the blacks remained poor. Great. Applaus.
That’s why you work hard, manage your money, so you end up where you want to be.
And yet the predominantly black government doesn't give a crap, and haven't given a crap since the years Jacob Zuma was president back in 2009.
Load More Replies...Me And My Girlfriend When We First Met vs. Now. The Regretful Emo Phase
My First-Ever House Plant Just Turned 5
The Difference In Me And My Twin's Skin Color. He Goes Outside, I Don't
One reason more to see why "race" is a ridiculous concept. I bet that a lot of people wouldnt say that the person in the right is "white" when they see both together. Same if you see me (extremely pale and more "north european" looking) and my sister (very tan and more "mediterranean" looking)
Hummingbird Eggs And Nest. Key For Scale
1st Picture Was The Peak Of My Opiate Addiction. 2nd Is A Recent Of One Of Me Healthy And Sober
Chimpanzee Fingertip vs. Human Fingertip
I Found A Bunch Of Rocks On A Beach And Organized Them By Color
Chichen Itza When It Was Discovered In 1892 vs. Present-Day
How Titanium Gets Color With Different Voltages
The Weather In The Netherlands Today
I thought the UK only had weather like this. Yeah lets have a BBQ - not.
My 16-Years-Old vs. 24-Years-Old SFX Makeup Growth
This Weird Lemon That Grew On Our Lemon Tree. Normal Lemon For Comparison
My Sister: "You Can Do The Half-Marathon With Me! Trust Me, It's Not That Bad." My Sister vs. Me
My Parents Have The Evolution Of Cellphones In Their Kitchen Drawer
This Comically Huge Strawberry That I Purchased From The Grocery Store Today vs. Hand
Biggest Pizza That Can Be Ordered In US
Anime vs. Reality
The Size Of A Fiber Optic Wire Capable Of Supplying A Home With High Speed Internet. Hand For Scale
Lara Croft Progression - 1996 To 2018
Man, where the first three really that bad? I remember it differently lol
Note: this post originally had 98 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.