What happens if I have an unrealistic perspective on the world? This issue requires a complex response that incorporates degree rather than kind, as with most things in life.

What’s wrong with perception differing from reality is a crucial topic. Thankfully, technology allows us to measure reality objectively in most cases (although skeptics may counter that using the instruments needs perception, in which case they would “prove” that perception is reality). A dog whistle may not be loud to humans, but that doesn’t imply it doesn’t exist in reality. Humans can only see a limited variety of colors or hear audible sounds, for instance. Instead, our perception of reality is constrained by the senses we have. I understand why some philosophers contend that because we don’t perceive reality directly, it is a fabrication created by our minds. The issue is that our genetic predispositions, previous experiences, prior knowledge, emotions, preconceived beliefs, self-interest, and cognitive biases often skew the lens through which we observe.īy identifying cognitive biases-of which there are many-which are systematic ways in which people create a subjective social reality that differs from objective reality, Daniel Kahneman, the eminent psychologist who won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics, created a veritable cottage industry. In doing so, we tend to believe that our perception of reality accurately reflects reality. Our perceptions affect how we pay attention to, think about, recall, interpret, comprehend, synthesize, make decisions about, and respond to reality. We see reality via a lens called perception. It rejects the Enlightenment and returns to the Middle Ages to confuse perception with reality.Īlthough perception is not reality, it may undoubtedly become a person’s reality (there is a distinction) since perception significantly impacts how we see reality.Ĭonsider it in this manner. The other cannot be readily manipulated and exists entirely outside the mind. The former occurs only in the mind, where mental tricks may make any belief come true. Perception and reality imply pretty different things. “The world or the real condition of things… existence that is absolute, independent, or objective and not subject to human judgment or convention.”.

The dictionary’s definition of reality is as follows:

“How one views, comprehends or interprets something a mental impression.”.

Perception is described as follows in the dictionary: Let me begin by explaining why perceptions and reality differ since I am a word man, and I think that words significantly influence our attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions. Perception is NOT reality let me say that with a firm sense of reality and without any room for perceptual flexibility. From a philosophical standpoint, this proverb produces a sense of relativism in more likely absolute situations (think “the world is flat”). It is used to bully others into embracing someone’s chosen version of reality. This adage is often employed to support a perspective that is either blatantly unrealistic or objectively unreasonable. Perception is reality is a phrase we often hear in the workplace, politics, relationships, and anywhere there is a dispute or conflict.

Skewed perception definition