Does our perception shape reality?

[gracefully]

Yes or no, provide explanation and examples.

 

[Thessaly]

Absolutely. Just as the MBIT says perceiving is an information collecting activity. We make decisions based on perceptions and our decisions create our realities.

 

[cascadeco]

Our perceptions shape OUR reality, which might in turn impact objective Reality - or not.

An example - If we perceive/believe that we're messed up and no one could possibly like us, that will become our reality because we'll then approach the world/people with the initial bias that they won't like us..and it'll almost always become self-fulfilling, thus supporting our Reality further and making it harder for us to see things otherwise. We'll be wearing glasses that tend to only support our preconceived notion of Reality, and we'll only see things that support that - in the meantime, actual Reality will keep on ticking but we're oblivious to it. Or, if done long enough, what started out as our Subjective Reality becomes Objective Reality. This example is more passive/reactive.

On the other hand - if we perceive reality to be a certain way, and utilize that knowledge to make changes in the world (our immediate environment or on a larger scale) - our perceptions can actively change/impact Reality in a real way, whether or not our perceptions are 'right'/accurate or not. Example - governments or individuals in power perceiving reality to be a certain way, those governments/leaders making decisions and taking action based on those perceptions, and solidifing Reality in a new way that would not have come about had they held different views of Reality. This example is more active/initiating.

 

[Lark]

I think it is significant, it is in some sense true that mankind is a rationalising rather than rational species, equally perception and perceptiveness are skills which I believe most people have the potential to develop.

However, I really have to say that that's a qualified statement for me, I can extrapolate a lot from thinking processes, insight provided by sources other than my own perception, for instance books and other peoples logic, reasoning and thinking.

 

[Moiety]

Reality IS perception.

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

If a person encounters a block of Decon and perceives it as a brownie, they could eat it and possibly even taste the delicious chocolate as it ran down their throat. Their perception of it will shape their reality of it until the laws of nature kick in and it kills them.

Perception influences, possibly dictates, the nature of our experience, but it has limited influence on consequences of our choices.

Internal perception and external reality are like dance partners in which reality insists on leading.

 

[Venom]

read Amazon.com: Kant: A Guide for the Perplexed (Guides for the Perplexed) (9780826485809): T. K. Seung: Books

then get back to us ...until Kant, the arguments went back and forth between the "all of reality is real, independent of our perceptions!" and "there is no reality independent of our perception!" ...after Kant, a lot of these arguments are kind of ridiculous and suffer from false dichotomy/oversimplification.

 

[mr.awesome]

yes and no.
i had a case for both planned out to write but my yes example really outweighed the no example. so ima go with yes on this one now haha.

yes- As in Plato's Cave Story - All we are know is what we perceive, we base our ideals and beliefs off what we see. its everywhere and in everyone. Culture is the perfect example. Its in a way bastardization of our forefathers, we follow what has been done and what is done and that is real to us. Its like culture shock when you go to another country. If youre a cold old Scandanivian and you take a trip to italy and get a warm kiss on the cheek from acquaintances you feel like its wrong, its not real to you. it only feels that way because we have not yet perceived it.

 

[Polaris]

Perception and the taking shape of reality are the same thing; to perceive something is for it to transform, and for something to transform is to perceive it. You can try to think of a transformation without perceiving it, but you'll already have lost the game, since thought is a type of perception. You can also try to a perceive on object that isn't transforming, and you'll find it similarly impossible, since objects are only still by comparison, as can readily be seen when you plant something in front of you and focus on it. You will find that no matter how still you keep your mind and body, the object shimmers, fades in and out, that your attention roams over its surface. In the end, you'll only be able to claim that the object is moving less than other objects, whether these objects are optical illusions or real things in the room. (The same thing can of course be said in reverse: motion stands out against a less mobile background without ever becoming pure motion. In this way, we can see that stillness and motion are a kind of yin and yang: they are opposites which, like all opposites, taint each other.)

 

[highlander]

I have to say that for some reason, it really annoys me when people say "perception is reality." The points above are valid - a person's perceptions shape their reality and people's decisions are shaped through their perceptions. However, in the broader context, reality to me seems more akin to truth which is may or may not align with any one person's perceptions. People are often wrong and inaccurately perceiving a situation.

 

[tinkerbell]

In SO many ways yes.

Think about wars, the winners always skew how awful the loosers were etc and taint how it really was. This continues a long long time post wars. In the UK we tend to protrait Hitler through films in blakc and white, photos etc.

The first colour picture I ever saw of him was actually in Germany... for some reason even now Hitler isn't depicted in colour over here... its propoganda, just subtley done.


Our onesidedness is only confonrted when we are shown evidence of ourselves. I have got cranky with other people sometimes over things I've done myself unconsiously.

 

[SillySapienne]

Yes.

What you perceive is what you believe, and your beliefs become your realities.

Granted, there still exists an ontological Reality that exists beyond the limits of your perceptions.

Also, it should be noted that some people perceive things more accurately, or in depth than others.

 

[cascadeco]

I have to say that for some reason, it really annoys me when people say "perception is reality." The points above are valid - a person's perceptions shape their reality and people's decisions are shaped through their perceptions. However, in the broader context, reality to me seems more akin to truth which is may or may not align with any one person's perceptions. People are often wrong and inaccurately perceiving a situation.

hehe....I do know what you mean.

This reminds me of a corporate Team-building/sales-pitch seminar thingie I had to go to once, and one of the Senior Sales Exec's at one point in the speech said: "Perception is Reality."

And internally, I was like...no, no!! No! REALITY is Reality!!

But, yeah, I do still stand by my first post; but totally agree ones' perception could be totally warped - but to that person, it's the truth, hence it becomes his world and for better or for worse he can shape the external reality to an extent, depending on his sphere of influence.

 

[human101]

i can't remember who said it but a thinker said something like saying murdering is wrong is no different to saying you don't like murdering

 

[highlander]

hehe....I do know what you mean.

This reminds me of a corporate Team-building/sales-pitch seminar thingie I had to go to once, and one of the Senior Sales Exec's at one point in the speech said: "Perception is Reality."

And internally, I was like...no, no!! No! REALITY is Reality!!

But, yeah, I do still stand by my first post; but totally agree ones' perception could be totally warped - but to that person, it's the truth, hence it becomes his world and for better or for worse he can shape the external reality to an extent, depending on his sphere of influence.

Yes exactly. Agree with your first post too.

 

[freedom geek]

Only in the way that it makes you preform physical actions based upon these perceptions. The vast majority of evidence shows reality to be fairly consistant.

 

[ilikeitlikethat]

What is reality?

I know I'm here because I can feel my back on my chair, this keyboard on my finger tips and my arms on the table with my feet on the floor looking at what I am doing and hearing the sound of the key strokes as I type.

I know it's real because I see it.

Can my eyes be deceiving me?

Can my perception be a deception?

If you concentrate on something, anything, you can become at one with it.