Perception, Reality and the Chasm In Between

The old adage is that perception equals reality. According to Wikipedia,

"Many philosophers contend that perception consists of one's interpretation of the world, but as commonality of perception trends toward 100% perception transmorgrifies into reality. Case in point: the sky is blue - reality, now imagine everyone but you perceived the sky to be red. The reality would then become "the sky is red". Thus reality is merely a popular consensus of perception. All things in the universe are understood as received through the various filters of human understanding and thus are perceptions of reality. What we commonly refer to as reality is, in fact, merely an agreed upon perception.

Many cognitive psychologists hold that, as we move about in the world, we create a model of how the world works. That is, we sense the objective world, but our sensations map to percepts, and these percepts are provisional, in the same sense that scientific hypotheses are provisional (cf. in the scientific method). As we acquire new information, our percepts shift."

I was having a conversation with someone at work the other day. It became abundantly clear how different our perceptions were. He thought I would've been popular in high school and had trouble picturing me as a ghost. Now times have changed and that was 10 years ago. So, in and of itself, that would've been meaningless. But they went on to say how popular I was now... how confident I appeared. Basically this person saw me as self-confident, outgoing, extraverted, popular... all the things I don't see in myself.

How do I see myself? I see myself as introverted. I definitely don't see myself as all that confident. Maybe I just fake it really well. *lol* I see myself as more of a recluse and pretty guarded. Basically I see myself as the complete opposite as how Stephan sees me.

Made me realize a couple of key points. For one... people are paying attention to everything you do, especially once you start moving up in the company. What kind of example are you setting?

Secondly, how you see yourself may not be the same as how other people see you. In fact they might be complete opposites. It's all about perception. How we have constructed our world view will shape how we see other people and their actions.

Perception Equals Reality

I began this post in "2 + 2 = 4 ... Or Does It" and thought I'd come back to it. I said before that out perceptions are shaped by our past experiences and how we view the world. I still believe that to be true. After observing someone we make a judgement as to their character and it is this perception of them that shapes our relationship with them. Let's say you introduce yourself to someone and they just stand there with their arms crossed. You may perceive them as cold, and unfriendly. You may then start attributing other behaviours they have to the type of person they are and end up just thinking they are cold and unfriendly. Maybe it is just a cultural thing for them but once you have a perception of someone it is difficult to change that.

The definition of perception is, "one's view or interpretation of something." Quite a while ago, I saw one of the team leaders I had as being out to get me. Once I had that perception it was easy for me to attribute his actions negatively. It was very hard for me to admit I was wrong and change that perception. Even after I was challenged on it I did not want to change my opinion. I was skeptical and ended up transferring to another team. I was wrong, but this is just an example of how hard it is to change your perception and how easy it is to shape your view of someone and their actions once you have that perception of them.

My question this time... "How do you see others?" and "How do they see you?"

Take a Look in the Mirror

So what do you see when you look in the mirror? Do you see yourself for who you really are... or do you see what other people see? I guess the real test is whether you see lies... or the truth. Maybe not as easy a question to answer. I try to avoid the mirror.. that way I don't have to see the reflection and answer that question. I was watching CSI and will end it with Horatio's quote, "At the end of the day the truth is all you have."

Heather

2 + 2 = 4... Or Does It?

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound? Intuitively, I want to say yes because if I am there then I would hear it. And I don't believe that it should depend on me for there to be sound. There is also the physics involved in motion and sound waves. But... sound is also largely relative. We hear things at a certain frequency. We perceive that there is sound and as a result we hear the tree hitting the ground.

Perception equals reality. How we perceive the world is shaped by our background, our culture, our beliefs and our life experiences. If we perceive the world to be a hostile place then that will shape our reality. It will be how we see things and how we interpret it. Our world view is shaped by those perceptions and in turn it is how we are seen by others.

I've been told I am "cold as ice" and unemotional. That was the perception because I didn't outwardly show emotion. Does that make it reality? Yes... and no... Human nature and personality are complex. I do tend to wear a mask that I am strong and feel nothing. I don't want to feel anything for reasons I am not going to get into at the moment. Some people see through the mask while others just believe that I am "cold as ice." But once you have a perception of someone it is hard to change that. You start attributing behaviours and comments to that view you now have of them. In a lot of ways though it really does start with how you see yourself. I thought I had to be strong and show no emotion. So it's no wonder that other people started seeing me that way as well.

I guess my question for you is this, how do you see yourself?