Yikes, I'm afraid I'm a bit with Martin on this one. I think it's quite true that one's expectations influence things, profoundly. My mother-in-law was always afraid of coming downtown at night, but did to see my wife perform. Sure enough at intermission outside a violent drunk came around like a train on schedule. I've never seen anything like it. It was ridiculous, never happens. Sociology will find it's own version of chaos theory.

I don't think people are bad, just not very good under most circumstances, and certainly not as good as we'd like to think under any circumstances. Anyone who feels pretty good probably isn't in a hard enough place, or very aware of the place they are in. There are limits to what a benign interpretation can meaningfully change, even if Robin Williams and Roberto Benini like to think otherwise.

You get what you perceive sounds a little like you get what you deserve, and I don't buy that either. I like Hamlet's version of it. Faulkner's take on the innocence of children is okay, too.