Do you know that our sensory receptors are constantly collecting information from the environment? However, the way we interpret that information is crucial, because it affects the way we communicate with the world. Perception is a process in which we integrate data from sensory receptors and give them meaning. It is a process of organizing, integrating and interpreting sensory information through which we get to know and recognize the surrounding world. Sensations or feelings are the elements that make up a more complex, complete experience – perception. Perception is not a reflection of objective reality, but our interpretation of that reality.
Perception includes bottom-up and top-down processing. Bottom-up processing refers to the fact that perception is built on sensory input, while top-down processing refers to the fact that the interpretation of a sensation is influenced by our available knowledge, thoughts and experiences. So everything we have learned, thought and experienced (all the programs we have taken over from others, parents, relatives, friends, culture, religion, the state, etc.) affects our interpretation of reality.
Sensory deprivation is the appearance of the partial or complete absence of sensory senses. Sensory adaptation shows that not all sensations always result in perception, although perception is built on sensations. This refers to the non-perception of stimuli that remain relatively constant over a long period of time. For example. when we first enter the room, we perceive the clock ticking, however, as we start to do something else, we are no longer aware of the clock ticking. This information still affects the sensory receptors of the auditory system, but we no longer perceive sound. This shows a close connection, but a difference between sensations and perception.
Some of the factors that affect perception are attention and motivation. We will now go through the examples to better understand their impact. Imagine that we are at a party full of loud music, where we engage in an interesting conversation with the people present and silence all the background noise. If someone stopped us from asking which song just ended, we probably wouldn’t be able to answer that question. Not noticing something that is completely visible due to lack of attention is called inattentional blindness, while not noticing changes due to lack of attention is called change blindness.
How does motivation affect perception? For example. we expect an important phone conversation during the shower. What happens next? We think we hear the phone ringing, even though it’s not ringing. In this case, we can see how the motivation to recognize a significant stimulus can change our ability to distinguish between the right sensory stimulus and background noise. This may explain why a mother can be awakened by the quiet cry of her baby, but not by other sounds that are heard while she sleeps.
You have often heard the following phrases: “What you see, you become”, “What you are, you see” or “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. The power of perception is reflected in its influence on us. It determines how we feel and what emotions we pass through our body. For example, a certain event is only a fact, it is neither good nor bad, but our perception, that is, our interpretation of the event, determines whether that event is good or bad. The event will have the value that we assign to it. What we have learned through seeing or experiencing, even as children and throughout our lives, will be real for us in the world around us.
Two psychologists, Joseph Hubel and David Weisel experimented with three sets of kittens that had just gained sight, placing them in three different isolated spaces. They divided them into three white boxes: one with horizontal black stripes, another with vertical black stripes and a third completely white. After some time had passed, they took the kittens out of the boxes and watched them navigate the space. The kittens from the box with the horizontal stripes did not notice any verticals in the space. Kittens from the box with vertical stripes did not notice the horizontals in the space. The kittens from the completely white box were completely disoriented and did not notice any type of object in the space.
Alfred North Whitehead, a British physicist and philosopher, believes that the colours, smells and sounds of nature belong to us, not nature. He believes that the surrounding world is a mere event in which there is no sound, colour or smell. Simply put, it is a matter that runs without end. Consequently, if nature without a subject who observes it is only an infinite event, then what we attribute to nature is a manifestation of our mind. This means that we are the creators of our own experiential world. The famous psychiatrist, Dr Victor Frankl, believed that we experience life through the purpose or significance of the perception we attach to life.
Each of us is unique, and therefore has a different perception of everything around us. Based on that, we can conclude that our perception determines our reality. Many different people, many different realities. When you understand that, then you can be in the allowance for other people, their opinions, beliefs and lives. Everyone is right in their own reality because they think and choose in life following the knowledge they have. There is no sense in opposing because it does not create more in your or the reality of another person.
The key thing is that we can change our reactions, caused by our perception, and perception. When you are aware of your perception, then you can change it. Each observation is relative, that is, it is your choice and your responsibility how you will understand and react to a certain event. We give meaning to the received stimuli through our knowledge, memory, expectations, attitudes, motives, beliefs.
The biggest problem in changing perception is in our fixed thoughts, beliefs, desires, projections, expectations, etc. We often treat beliefs as facts, so we do not check them. Therefore, we often do not change them. Most of our thoughts, beliefs, desires and the like are limiting us. That is why it is important to be aware of our thoughts and beliefs. Follow or write down what you think, say, do and create in life, and you will see the connection between your perception and reality. Only by working on consciousness, you can change these patterns, your perception and reality.
What is very important is that we must stop using the past as a reference point for creating the present and the future. We cannot change the past, but we can change the point of view about the past. It is not necessary to make choices in the present based on experience but based on consciousness in the present moment. Maybe something wasn’t good in the past or didn’t function, but maybe now it will. One should not automatically limit one’s choice due to some unfavourable experiences from the past or stick to only certain choices due to favourable experiences in the past. We choose whether we will be under the illusion of previous experience.