tl;dr - I was tired when I wrote this, feel free to ignore.

"What is perceived by an individual to be real will be real in its consequences."

The above quotation is a paraphrasing of the expression coined by William Thomas, American Micro-interpretive Sociologist, explaining that the reality a person interprets will have consequences that are real to all.

I found it a fun idea to imagine everyone on earth is living in their own private alternate universe, ruled by their own values and norms, establishing a fixed order with which they can be most comfortable. Although all the world's stimuli is identical, the interpretation will vary from person to person based on how that stimuli is introduced into their universe. We are taught from day one what is right, what is wrong, what is normal, what is acceptable, what is real, and use these ideals to construct mental and societal confines within which we can reside, observing and dealing with others based on how the bubble is breached.

Physically, we may reside within the same universe, but mentally, we're existing, acting, thinking, judging, in worlds all our own. Abstracts, such as introspection and empathy, can be used to bridge the gaps from world to world, from point-of-view to point-of-view, from person to person. In today's society, it is much easier to judge and brush off another individual using our sets of standards, rather than by making an effort to construct that proper bridge.

The only question that remains is why these efforts have declined.