Just because we think something is real doesn’t mean it’s true. University of San Francisco lecturer Jim Taylor describes the mechanisms of perception that create a “personal reality” for each of us, and helps not to get lost in it.
In the world of business and politics, in families, that is, everywhere where disagreements and conflicts arise at least from time to time, we can hear the opinion that perception is reality. Such a statement is often used to legitimize personal perception, sometimes at odds with reality. It’s the club we use to beat others into our personal so-called “reality,” says University of San Francisco professor Jim Taylor.
Calling himself a “man of his word,” he suggests starting with words. Obviously, the concepts of “perception” and “reality” have different meanings. Perception takes place in the mind, where the flexibility of thinking gives rise to beliefs and beliefs about what is happening in the objective world. And reality lives outside our consciousness, and it is not so easy to manipulate it. To equate perception with it is like abandoning enlightenment and rolling back into the Middle Ages, Taylor is sure.
Everyone lives in their own world
Yes, perception is not reality, but everyone’s personal perception forms their personal reality. It plays the role of a lens through which we look at the world. Our perception affects many processes: the direction of attention, the processing of incoming information, memory, interpretation, understanding, generalization, decision-making and the actions that we take.
It is understandable why we tend to regard our own perception as the real reality. But this is not true. The problem is that this lens through which we look at the world is often distorted by our genetic predisposition, past experiences, basic knowledge, emotions, stereotypes, self-interests and cognitive illusions.
Daniel Kahneman, Nobel laureate and founder of behavioral economics, helped to understand the psychological processes that govern human judgment and decision making. He singled out 100 so-called cognitive illusions, under the influence of which people create their own reality, which differs from the objective one.
Just because we can’t hear a dog’s whistle doesn’t mean it isn’t actually being heard.
“I have respect for philosophers who believe that reality does not exist at all, but only subjective reflections of it, because we are not capable of direct comprehension of objective reality,” writes Jim Taylor. Moreover, our ability to create our reality is limited by feelings.
For example, a person sees only a limited color spectrum and hears sounds only at a certain frequency. But if we are unable to hear the whistling of a dog, this does not mean that in reality it is not heard. Thanks to technology, people are in many ways able to measure reality – although here again opponents may argue that studying the results of technical research still involves human participation and perception, but this is a topic for a separate discussion.
How is this dangerous?
Taylor poses the key question: “What’s wrong with perceptions that deviate from reality?” Indeed, what is wrong if a person perceives the world in his own way? The answer is ambiguous and depends rather on the degree and direction of distortion. For example, one of the psychological theories claims that the so-called positive illusions, which reasonably overestimate a person’s potential, can bring certain psychological and practical benefits – in particular, give hope and increase resilience.
However, if perception strays too far from reality and moves from weak illusions to serious delusions, it becomes a liability. Under its influence, a person may set unattainable goals for himself or not conduct the necessary preparation before performing serious tasks. In fact, a serious discrepancy between perception and reality can lead to disability – some mental illnesses are an example of this.
People with different beliefs are each immersed in their own reality, and a normal dialogue is almost impossible
At the social level, the following happens. When individuals or entire groups have too different realities, they cannot solve serious and urgent problems – there are simply no common ground for this. This often happens in politics: people with different beliefs are each so immersed in their own reality that it is almost impossible to organize a constructive dialogue and make a unified decision. The result is inaction or outright hostility and hate crimes.
On a global scale, everything is even more serious: representatives of different countries have a huge gap in the perception of reality, and all this leads to a slow but steady disintegration of the forces that should ideally hold the world community together. This dark and popular theme has found its way into cinema, literature and our modern world.
What to do?
Taylor sees it as an important task to ensure that perceptions – our own and other people’s – remain close to reality. He suggests keeping a few simple tips in mind:
- You should not assume that your perception is objective reality – it is only your own “reality”.
- Be respectful of other people’s perceptions – they may be right.
- Don’t get attached to your perception – it can be wrong. It takes courage to admit this.
- Be aware of how your cognitive distortions can distort the picture of reality. Understanding “interference” will help you better connect perception with reality.
- Check your perception. Will it survive scrutiny through the “microscope of reality”?
- Double-check yourself by contacting specialists and those you trust. But keep in mind that your close friends probably have a similar perception.
- Be open to changing your perception if there are good reasons to do so. Rigidity of consciousness is much worse than being wrong.
“The next time others defend their position and tell you that perception is reality, answer that it is only their perception—and certainly not objective reality,” Taylor suggests. A tip that is definitely worth taking.
About the author: Jim Taylor is an instructor at the University of San Francisco and the author of Mind Training: Preparing the Mind for Success in Sports.