"Do We Hear and See the Same?"

I had a flashback this week of a thought I had when I was young, "Do we all hear and see the same? The world I see, is it the same world you see? Do you see the colour yellow the same way I do?"
I have accepted that we do see and hear everything the same way, in the pragmatic sense but it's our interpretation of the data that varies from individual to individual. There is some over-lap and common-ground that occurs and these are generally the people we spend time with as they have similar outlooks and belief systems. Those that differ radically, usually end up in conflict. It would be a natural movement then, to avoid the conflict and move to where one is accepted with similar beliefs. With the scale of our global nature of doing life, we are constantly interacting with dissimilar people due to ethnicity, languages, religion, social class, education level and political standing. These are only a few differences I could quickly list, no wonder there is constant fighting. With so many differing viewpoints and the probability of two strong-willed dissimilar individuals interacting being very high, we are guaranteed to run into some conflict. Especially so, when one party wants to impose their beliefs and outlook onto another. Do we then live in separatist states, ignoring what happens next door, do we compromise and find some mutually agreeable solution or do we accept the differences for what they are and love the person despite of these differences? If only it was that simple. You are a vegetarian and I enjoy a good steak. That's pretty easy to accept and move on. Political and religious beliefs can run much deeper than that and compromise usually isn't an option in those categories. Acceptance would be the best solution but such is the way of politics and religion that acceptance is usually short-lived and conflict erupts out of the smallest disagreement. 

As different as we are as individuals, the commonality that brings us into groups is very powerful. The basis of the commonality needs to be questioned by each 'follower' before pledging allegiance to the group. 
Does what I believe in cause harm or does it encourage love for other people? 
That simple question should be the basis for any group being formed. Simplistic, yes! Why does it have to be complicated?

 “Your reality is as you perceive it to be. So it is true, that by altering this perception we can alter our reality.”- William Constantine.