We all perceive reality differently?
Many people believe reality is definite. It is a wide belief that what happens in reality will be perceived exactly the same as everyone else’s perception. It is human habit to assume that other people’s view of the world, is the same way as theirs. When one sees a table, they believe everyone else sees the table too. When one sees a color, they believe everyone else sees the color in the same way as they do too. When they hear a sound, people generally believe the sound is perceived the same to other people too. A touch can be experienced the same as each person as well. Are experiences the same with each one of us or are they relative?
You see most of us perceive the world primarily with five different ways. Most of us first perceive reality with ranges of light waves through our eyes. We also taste the minute particles in the air through our nostrils and into the sensors in the nasal cavity. We can determine a wide range of texture by the sensors in our skin and our finger tips. We can distinguish a range of vibrations in the air though a thin membrane in our ear called an ear drum. And lastly, we can analyze and distinguish chemicals in a substance through the sensitive nerves on the pallet of our tongues.
Ever since we were born our minds developed associations with all of our commonly known five senses. We associate different ranges of light to a name of a color. We associate the sensation of different smells to the name of the object that was examined. We gave different names to the variety of levels of texture that we can feel with our skin. We associate common patterns of sound vibration to words in our many different languages. Similarly to smell, our taste buds associate the sensation to the name of the object. Right at this moment I'm sitting with a cup of coffee in front of me. My association with the taste of coffee cannot be measured, described, explained to anyone else to the extent where they would experience coffee the same way as I would. The association of my experience, with the word to describe texture, "smooth" cannot be described or explained to anyone else until they allow their touch be associated with that word "smooth" also. The same way goes to sound patterns. Our minds have developed associations with a huge variety of sound patterns to names. We have names to describe all kinds of sound patterns. Although each of us can relate a memory of a humming sound, there is no way to prove that two people experience a humming sound the same way. Lastly, this brings us to color. Each one of us has associated a frequency of light to a name of a color. The frequency of energy can be measured and labeled as a certain color but our perception of the way we interpret the signals from our eyes to our brains vary from one human being to the next. There is no way to prove that one person perceives color the same as another.
Why it is important to see that reality is different for each one of us?
There can be problems with believing that everyone experiences the world the same way he or she does. Imagine a person who believes that everyone has the same views as he or she. If he is disgusted with something then he would believe that everyone is disgusted with the same thing. Imagine if he found something pleasant, then he would believe that everyone would find the same thing pleasant. It's obvious because he believes everyone experiences the world in the same way as himself. Preferences are also built in when we make associations to a sensation. For example, some of us like the taste of coffee. Others may love the taste of coffee. It all depends on the associations that were made at the time of their experiences. If two people experience the world in the same way, then it is only logical that they would develop the same preferences. If the same associations were made, then the same levels of pleasantness were experienced. The same levels of pleasantness develop a sense of preference. So an arbitrary person believes if he sees the color blue, then others see the color blue. If he finds the smell of flowers pleasant than others find the smell of flowers pleasant. If he is disgusted by the sight of two homosexuals showing affection then he believe others feel the same way. But it is not the same with every human being. One person may say a color is blue and another may say it is purple. One person may find a particular flower with a pleasant odor and another person may find it repulsive. And it is obvious that all people all develop a variety of preferences. We may all have different preferences because we all have a unique experience of the world and reality. You see if one believes that everyone experiences things the same as themselves, then it would allow them to not try to understand the way someone else views the world. (thread)
Can one choose the way they perceive the world?
One time I was reading through the writings of a sixteen year old girl. She wrote on her theories and her beliefs. I was impressed by the way she viewed the world for someone her age. When I was reading through some of the other peoples comments, I noticed a few people, my age, were contradicting her ideas. It seemed as though they viewed the world as stressful and difficult. Her reply to them is that she thought it was sad that they see their lives like that. One of their comments, in reply, was that once she gets older she would see that the world is more like their view and less like hers. When I asked her about that comment she explained that some people don't see their lives as a gift rather they choose to see their lives as a burden. I explained to her my theory on perceiving the world. I believe that what makes the young so beautiful is that they can see the world with a fresh open mind. When people get older they lose that outlook in life. One key on being young is to have an outlook on life like a young person would. Not just to agree to see the world and life as a gift. To really practice seeing life that way, the words that should always come to mind are beauty, appreciation, wonder, amazement and life is great. Also really try to stop yourself when words come to mind are difficult, impossible, "can't be done", "this sucks". Even now, while I'm writing these words into my Treo, in a cafe in Princeton, I can over hear a conversation behind me about how people perceive the world. The voice explained how some people are happy-go-lucky and "see the world with rosey colored sweetness." He said, "I don't, I'm a realist." It is a funny thing about being a "realist." Every "realist" is so sure about how they view the world yet no two "realists" can agree to see the world in the same way. So, can one choose the way they perceive the world? Of course.
Reality is what you make of it
Einstein believed time is relative. He may have also believed that reality is relative. It has been said that “reality is what you make of it.” I find that you can choose your reality by choosing what you observe in the world. If we look at how other organisms view their world, we can see there are many perceptions of reality. For example, an eagle has a much greater vision than any human and they can distinguish movement from great distances. A dog observes their world through smell. A bat observes their world through sound. There is almost an infinite way to observe reality. Even no two human beings can observe reality the same way. Since there are so many ways to observe the world, a person can decide what way to observe reality much in the same way a bat chooses to see the world through sound. I’m not saying a human can develop incredible hearing powers. A person can focus on what their reality is made up of. Thus “reality is what you make of it.”
A person really can decide how they view the world. A person can focus on how painful life is. Or a person can focus how beautiful the world is. Two people can witness the same thing and they can both describe a different story. Let’s say two people are riding their bikes in a paved pathway in a park. Park maintenance don’t always maintain their pathways so the two bike riders may encounter many holes, sand, gravel or anything that may obstruct their pathway. One rider may see the pathway as dangerous and in need of fixing because many of these obstacles forced him to react and avoid them. The other rider may see each of these obstacles as something that is fun to cross. I remember riding my mountain bike with a friend. And one time we encountered a shallow stream that crossed our path. I saw it as a challenge and enjoyed crossing the obstacle without falling down. My companion felt it was a nuisance that she encountered an obstacle in our path. Many things in life can be either viewed as challenges or nuisances. People generally are not aware that they can decide which way they want to perceive what they encounter. A person can encounter an obstacle and see it in two ways. A person who is generally afraid may see an obstacle as a nuisance. A person who is not aware of what can go wrong doesn’t see the obstacle as a problem at all. So reality can be relative. Reality is different on each way it can be perceived.
