People are constantly trying to understand and explain the world around them. The majority of the knowledge about perception originated from the introspective and observational approaches of classic philosophers, which later developed to a more scientific-mechanical perspective vastly supported by the advent of modern technologies. Perception has its roots in the human brain and nerve structures, but there is also a large component of the human perspective which is determined by cultural and social learning.

What determines our perception and what concern is it to our lives? In the following paragraphs, we’ll take a journey through perception, reality and the interesting underpinnings that have a direct result in our life achievements.

The Fundamentals of Perception

Sensation is merely the stimulation of sense organs. Perception is commonly defined as the process of creating meaningful patterns from the unprocessed sensory data, which involves the selection, organisation, and interpretation of that sensory stimulation. Sensation and perception are normally closely related and practically overlapping steps towards the final product of the human perspective: giving meaning to sensations.

Signal-Detection Theory proposed that detection of stimuli involves decision processes and sensory processes, which are determined by various factors, including intensity of stimulus. Such proposition invokes the importance of expectations and personality traits in perception. The possible outcomes of this theory are the commonalities found in our daily lives - how many times have you thought you heard your phone ring, or thought you have seen someone, or used probability to make assumptions about a particular stimulus? Sometimes what we want to happen is what our primary reality becomes.

A Chaos of Bewildering Waves

“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Einstein’s quotation reflects much of the concept of reality which is intrinsically related to our lives. We live in a chaos of bewildering waves (physical particles that compose our environment) which are given meaning by our cultural, social and emotional frameworks. Reality is vastly projected from our inner framework towards the outside world. We shape our interpretations based on previous experiences and learning paradigms, and many such interpretations become natural and responsive processes. This primarily explains why we have such diverse opinions, tastes, likes, motivational goals, and more. It also explains why there is such a difference in emotional responses from individuals: some people can be absolutely terrified to be on the top of a tree, while others are happily base-jumping from 200 meter-tall buildings (and even paying to do so).

Visual perception, which is one of the dominant forms of perception in humans, has proved to be highly ambiguous. The same image can result in radically different conclusions - and such ambiguity is largely due to the manner in which our brain processes images. Once a visual stimulus (light) is sensed, perception takes place almost instantly. Images recorded by the human eye (the retina) are transmitted to several parts of the brain, through varied pathways, and ultimately arriving at the occipital lobe (visual cortex).

The ‘crossing-over’ process allows a higher level of interpretation of data and also ensures that the brain has substantial ‘material’ to work with. Throughout these stages, parallel processing and the high level of specialisation of visual cortex’s cells allow a multitude of interpretations and meaning-attachment to that stimuli captured by our eyes. It is a fast, multileveled and quite impressive process.

Consensual Reality and the Societal Treaty

With so many ambiguities and possible flaws in our perspective of reality, how do we really define reality? Many philosophers have asked the same question. Plato’s Myth of the Cave made reference to the ambiguity of reality, and some say it was the basis for the movie The Matrix (1999). There are numerous theories which refer to terms such as multidimensional reality, hyper reality, surrealism, illusions and more. Even nowadays, reality is still a fuzzy concept - despite the expansion of technological research and the complexity of theoretical propositions. Social reality is probably the most reasonable explanation for all of this.

To create meaning in our lives, and live in a common and unified reality, we have to appeal to the collective subconscious. Most people find it hard to accept, or create barriers to understand the differences in cultural, social and personal upbringings: but they tend to live in harmony and, to say the least, forge a sense of unity. We may call this concept as the ’societal treaty’.

Thousands of years ago, when humans began to develop common grounds for communication such as language, writing, reading - we began to develop our expression of reality. Science, philosophy and common sense all served to enhance and overlap that sense of unity, creating a backbone which would serve as a constant validation for the upcoming societies. By becoming social beings, we created a common reality which was intrinsically related to the environment around us, and at the same time, constantly verifiable through the other individuals in our social network. Social dynamics and the social environment have evolved to become a universal reality check.

Understanding Perception, Improving Action

Faulty, dysfunctional or irrational thinking are commonly used expressions to define mal-adaptive thinking which results in negative consequences (or limitations) for the individual. These thinking patterns create cognitive barriers to an individual’s development, directly influence in the person’s self-esteem and confidence levels. In other words, faulty thinking is the result of the process of perception, but a negative one. In order to avoid the several psychological barriers which are created by faulty thinking, it is important to understand the underpinnings associated with personal thinking and target the maladaptive thinking patterns. It is basically directing efforts towards knowing yourself.

But how well do you know yourself? Many people would not hesitate to answer this question, but if you think about what I am actually asking, you may take your time. Knowing yourself is not really defined by how much time you have actually spent with yourself (hopefully your whole life), but how much time you have spent trying to figure out why you think and act the way you do. This is the key to improvement and personal development.

Introspection is the process of contemplating the self or in Plato’s own words, “why should we not calmly and patiently review our own thoughts, and thoroughly examine and see what these appearances in us really are” (Theaetetus, p. 155). Why do you get angry? Why do you like this TV show? Why not? All these are very simple questions, but if you ask them enough times you’ll begin to understand the complex associative mechanisms which correlate your past experiences, emotional tendencies, behavioural patterns and general perspective of the world.

Individuals who are not ‘in touch’ with themselves find it much harder to accept other’s ideas, to understand concepts that they do not support, and to invoke change in their lives. Flexibility and congruence in our lives are vastly a result of understanding our own limitations and changing behaviour in a logical fashion. So what is stopping you from doing so?