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We depend completely on our perceptions to carry on normal existence, but the truth is we never see reality as it really is, since we are unable to see the outside world directly, seeing only into our own psychological consciousness.
The familiar argument “I only believe in what I see and touch” is a fallacy because we do not see with our eyes or touch with our fingers; we do these things with our brains, which are subject to innumerable restrictions, filters and controls.
In the following article I have tried to show how fallible, limited and fragile our perceptions are.
Darío Salas Sommer
Academy of Sciences
Raen, Russia
Perception: A Resource and A Limitation
Our sense of our lives, of the world, depends upon the way we perceive and experience it. In general, people tend to give almost infallible credit to what they perceive through their senses. We normally believe that what we think is the truth; that our minds faithfully describes what is really out there . . . even though we know this is not so.
From the time a stimulus activates our brains until we become aware of it and attribute an interpretation to it, numerous physiological processes take place that show that, in reality, the result of this perception is highly edited to fit the way these processes operate, and brings us a version of reality that is far from being reliable, far even from following our conscious intent.
What is Perception?
Psychology defines this phenomenon as awareness at the sensory level of an object that is physically present. The sensory stimuli act as signals and perception is the result of the evocation by these stimuli of more complex patterns of perception, such as the analysis and interpretation that organize them and give them significance.
Perception of one’s surroundings depends on multiple factors that take place physiologically, leaving us little room to intervene. Sensory receptors send messages in the form of neurological currents that reach internal structures of the brain: the thalamus, the hippocampus, and the amygdale . . . where they are interpreted based on the cerebral memory banks.
Following the results of this process the ascending mesodiencephalic reticular system, the regulator of the cycles of sleep and wakefulness, will either allow the perceived stimulus to blossom into consciousness or maintain it at a subliminal level where it will be added to the cerebral memories that will continue to influence future perceptions. Attention, which is key to conscious perception, is similarly regulated by the reticular formation, which determines its activation or inhibition.
A perception is the result, therefore, of the confrontation of the sensory image with the experience, needs and expectations of the individual, from which he selects, interprets and even corrects the sensations. This confrontation takes place primarily at a physiological level, at the margin of our conscious intent, and subsequently when the subject becomes aware of the perceived stimulus and voluntarily sets in motion his interpretive mechanisms.
The search for truth is for human beings an inherent necessity, and it has been the priority objective of all schools of philosophical, psychological and scientific thought throughout the ages. Theoretical frameworks offer a guide and at the same time imply a limitation, and one works doggedly to break free of the limitations of the available tools. In recent times quantum physics has raised considerable doubts about the scientific method, demonstrating the extent to which the observer influences what is observed, which suggests also that a hypothesis may itself skew the results of an experiment.
The search for truth is for human beings an inherent necessity, and it has been the priority objective of all schools of philosophical, psychological and scientific thought throughout the ages. Theoretical frameworks offer a guide and at the same time imply a limitation, and one works doggedly to break free of the limitations of the available tools. In recent times quantum physics has raised considerable doubts about the scientific method, demonstrating the extent to which the observer influences what is observed, which suggests also that a hypothesis may itself skew the results of an experiment.
In the same manner, understanding in depth the phenomenon of perception shows us how our vision of reality depends on the points of view we adopt, on the functioning of our cognitive instrument and even on the language that we use to interpret and communicate what we perceive, resulting in a fragmented understanding that is limited to the contents of our own minds, of our psychological consciousness.
Have confronted and accepted how difficult it is for human beings to reach awareness of true reality, modern currents of constructivist thought are based on the idea that knowledge is not a copy of reality, but a construction of human beings, which they create using the formats that they have at hand, using what they have already constructed in relation to the environment that surrounds them. From this point of view, these currents of thought assert that it is not possible to arrive at absolute truth, but only to aspire to a functional, utilitarian understanding that ensures the best possible interaction of the individual with his environment.
Nonetheless: could it be possible to see reality without projecting our own fantasies and ideas onto it? Quantum physics states that the observer influences the thing he observes, and this appears to be true, but what if the person were able to maintain himself in a neutral state? Could there be a way to see reality in which the person does not overshadow, does not startle, does not disturb, does not leave an impression . . . in which the person remains cool in the face of reality . . . internally centered?
How can we optimize our vision of reality?
The only way to see reality better is to perfect our instrument of understanding, so that our true self can access reality as it really is, without mixing it up with the subjective and biased contents of our heads.
First, it is important to understand that an inadequate state of vigilance limits even more the results of our perceptions, limiting them to the automatic functioning of the brain and influencing analysis and interpretation with subliminal information that has not passed through the filter of consciousness.
At the same time, and keeping in mind that the meaning of things is not found in the sensory data, but flows instead from the mental ability to attribute to them a correct value so as to arrive at a superior judgment of the truth, it is necessary to optimize our capacity for processing, for “mental digestion,” which refers to the type of profound mental reflection in which, after having performed the most complete analysis possible by means of an awakened intelligence, we manage to grasp the intimate secret of the thing we are contemplating.
Truth is only susceptible to being understood in this manner. Through normal thought we arrive only at the surface of things. Still, fatigue, worries and the inclination to comfort, generally make people tend instinctively to “believe” in something in order to avoid the work of thinking, sometimes going through life without truly realizing what is happening around them, or even inside them.
We can easily see how each person has a different world in his head, and how he seeks to believe, to acquire security by aligning himself with majority opinions even if he knows that these too do not embody the truth.
This amounts to an instinctive self-defense behavior, a movement from the I to the We in order to feel socially integrated. We commonly play a social role, we try to please or to be able to affect others in a concrete way in order to reach a particular goal. Our true I remains hidden behind the passwords, the messages, the outside information that has penetrated our minds and that we ingenuously believe are at the root of our decisions, our desires, our limitations.
At a profound level objective opinions can only exist when one connects them to reality, free of the conditions and limitations that interfere with this process of understanding: which is only possible when one achieves a superior level of consciousness, based on a biological, cerebral awakening and on the activation of a state of alertness. Consciousness is not feeling things, but understanding at a level beyond cerebral programming, which is the only way to get to the root of understanding:
- Elevating our level of vigilance and acquiring the capacity to manage our own attention minimizes subliminal perception and the stupor that informational material “residing” in our brain brings to the interpretation that we give to our perceptions.
- Self-awareness, remembering our own identity, is the entrance hall to superior consciousness. Remembering that we are something more than our bodies, and that we must liberate ourselves from our psychic machinery so that our true Being can access the real meaning of things and relate to the world in a positive and constructive way.
- Control of one’s own attention is a priority objective. To stop having one’s attention captivated by the stimuli that impact upon our nervous systems implies the recovery of control of our I, which otherwise is permanently sucked in and hypnotized by external stimuli.
- Avoiding preconceived ideas, superstitions and beliefs, which impede reflective and rational thought. In order to evolve one must break out of established molds or, at least, know how to doubt; one must fight against the tendency to stick with the majority, promoting reflective thought in order to find wisdom in accordance with reality and our understanding of it.
- Maintaining impersonality, since only with impersonality can one open one’s eyes and see reality from a position beyond the opposing poles. This implies having no position, not giving an opinion, maintaining neutrality. A neutral vision means forgetting about oneself when trying to understand something, not giving an opinion. If one is not neutral, one contaminates what one is looking at.
- Going deeper, going beyond appearances, which are always deceptive, paying attention to the red flags, the incongruities and contradictions that warn us that there is more remaining to be discovered.
- The development of consciousness requires the processing of daily experiences, observing people’s behavior and overcoming one’s own defects and automatic functions, which manifest themselves as thoughts, emotions and reactions.
- Not believing that we think, when in reality we are “reading” from our cerebral archives.
- Not confusing automatic emotion with genuine impulses.
- Not using intellectual exercises to justify to the bitter end our reactions.
- Dismantling the false image that we have of ourselves, without fearing to discover the truth, because spirituality is based on reality, and that which has value is to be found in the real world, in real life
Regarding Perception and Knowledge (Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. (1997)
Organizational Behavior. Madrid. McGraw-Hill.
They describe perception as a process that consists of four stages:
1. selective attention and comprehension,
2. codification and simplification,
3. warehousing and retention
4. recuperation and response.
And the following observations stand out:
- We do not perceive everything, but only things that stand out, whether because they are original or because of some other characteristic that the person finds remarkable. Information should be structured and presented so that what we consider relevant stands out above the rest.
- When one is in a state of need, stimuli related to deprivation are more eye-catching. It is easier to find what one is looking for when it is needed, or one believes that it is needed. Moreover, the greater the perception of need for something, the quicker one begins the search for it.
- Observed information is not stored in memory in its original form, but is codified by the individual in a personalized manner. Each person has a unique history. Factors like childhood caregivers, education, role models, prior experiences and states of mind consciously or unconsciously influence the conception a person has of others, of his world or of himself. For this reason, although the stimuli of a situation may be the same, the meaning (the perception) may vary for two observers, and even for the same person in two different moments of his life.
- This personalized interpretation of reality is what characterizes human perception. Agreement of the senses does not guaranty agreement of perception. Two people can concur that what they observe is a car (sensation), but, nonetheless, for one it may signify discomfort and expense and for the other sportiness and exclusivity (perception).
- Perception has a strong influence on behavior. That is, people do not behave according to objective characteristics of the reality around them, but in accordance with the perceptions they form of this reality. This at least partially explains why, given the same elements in a situation or problem, two people may behave in very different ways.
- Perception has implications concerning the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge has previously passed through the human perceptual filter and therefore is susceptible to error, distortion or controversy.
- Perceptions as formed are intermediated by different variables: values, attitudes, motivations and knowledge. Thus two people with different values, attitudes, motivations and knowledge can have different perceptions of the same thing, person or situation and, for the same reason, different behaviors.
NAÏVE REALITY
Only in recent years has the world of science opened itself to the broad field of sensoriality. This new field constitutes a cross-over discipline, not exclusive to science, dedicated to the study and evaluation of functions, both normal and as altered by the senses.
Currently, an understanding of how the different senses take part in different human “learnings” is being developed through the broad field of sensoriality. Our senses are the medium through which exterior and interior stimuli can be captured. Senses are also tools for evaluating individuals’ states of health, so that navigating the sensorial world requires certain basic knowledge.
The first consideration starts from the premise that everyone lives life from within his own personal reality. We will call this “naïve reality.” There is another reality, absolute reality, which is responsible for generating an infinite number of events that can be captured in the form of a multitude of stimuli. This reality is unreachable by man or any other living being on our planet. Only the most limited part of that reality, only an infinitesimal part of it, reaches us. And only the smallest part of what reaches our senses will be converted to a captured stimulus, of which a miniscule fragment will be converted into emotion that will be processed in the form of sentiment.
The explanation for all this narrowing down of the number of stimuli to which we can have access is found in our senses, to be understood as both our sensory organs and as externalized extensions of our central nervous system. The senses are in charge of capturing stimuli. But not all stimuli, only those that are ready to be detected. Our senses thus become filters of reality, creating the appearance of this second reality that we have called naïve. We speak of naïve reality when we believe that that which we see, hear, touch, smell or taste is absolute reality. But it only amounts to a sensorial interpretation of a part of reality. We living beings are made up of a collection of filters that, at the same time that they separate us from reality, join us to it, like a bridge that joins two riverbanks and is at the same time their most conspicuous divider.
Levels of Sensorial Filters
First Level
Our brain is made up of a hundred trillion neurons, whose principal mission is to reject 99% of the informational stimuli that we receive. Only 1% of all the information that reaches us, that surrounds us in the form of stimuli, is stored, from which we see the first level of reality filter or of reality reducer. Only 1% of the information that reaches us is accepted by our brain.
Second Level
The only stimuli that man can capture are those that activate his senses. And there are only two kinds of stimuli. First, those derived from waves, whether electromagnetic (light, color . . .) processed by the sense of sight, from pressure (sound, tactile stimuli . . .) processed by the senses of hearing and touch, or thermal (hear, cold) processed by the skin. And second, chemical substances, processed by the senses of smell and taste.
Outside of these paths of perception any other type of stimulus ceases to exist; the events generated by reality that give rise to stimuli different from these cease, as far their perception is concerned, to be captured: they are non-existent. Therefore, the senses are the second filter of reality: only stimuli for which the senses are prepared (smell for odors, hearing for sounds, sight for light, touch for tactile sensations . . .) will be captured.
Third Level
The third level of narrowing of reality is found at the operational fringes of the functioning of each of the senses. Sight sees light and colors, but only some colors, not all. It cannot see infrareds or ultraviolets. Nor can it see all intensities. Hearing captures sounds, but not all of them: it cannot hear ultrasounds or infrasounds. Smell captures odors, but not all of them . . .
Fourth Level
The fourth filter of reality, or of reduced reality, comes down to the senses’ capacity to perceive the only the variations in the stimuli for which they are adapted. A constant stimulus is categorized as null, non-existent. If a sound remains constant in intensity and frequency it ceases to be captured as such: the ear ignores it. If a light has the same intensity and frequency the sense of sight ignores it. And the same goes for touch.
Fifth Level
Another reality filter that trips us up consists of information that the senses send to the brain, where it is processed in the form of emotions (a huge set of stimuli and responses). Each person functions differently at the moment of capturing and processing stimuli that are converted into emotions.
Sixth Level
On the sixth level, reality is filtered when emotions become sentiments. The brain makes a selection of the information reaching it that will be allowed entry, partially storing it. This means that not all emotion gives rise to sentiments. For example, spoken language is a magnificent faculty that we use to transmit our thoughts from one brain to another: it is the principal medium of communication to connect concepts to words, permitting us to share thoughts, sentiments, conceptualized emotions, and to transmit knowledge, customs and values. It is accepted that people communicate with the outside world by means of the word.
Nonetheless, this idea is incorrect, since communication through verbal language only conveys7% of the total information. The remaining 93% is non-verbal. Included in this non-verbal communication are tone of voice (a 38% share) and visual aspects such as eye movements, facial expressions, body movements or postures (with a 55% share). Communication is complemented by the rest of the senses: taste, smell and touch. In other words, emotions that are recorded in the form of sentiments spring from the different sources of stimuli that we have mentioned, so that language ceases to be the principal medium of communication, and therefore collapses as the principal pathway for the production of emotions.
Seventh Level
This level of filtration of reality operates as a function of the channels of perception that predominate in the individual. Each person has an unconscious system of references that causes mainly visual, auditory or kinesthetic-tactile (relating to sensations and touch) to be captured. This means that each person captures more easily information that comes to him through his predominant channel: some people capture first visual or auditory stimuli, or internal sensations . . .
We can illustrate the filtration that takes place at this level using a hypothetical situation: suppose that three people go to the Prado Museum to “contemplate” the Nude Maja by Goya. If, after their contemplation, you ask each of them how he would define the experience, one might say, “it’s like a gush of colors,” another might explain that “it’s like a waltz of life” and the third might respond, “it gives me a feeling of softness and heat.” Each would have seen the same picture, but would have allowed himself to be subjugated to the channel to which his personality was most sensitive. In the first the visual channel would predominate, in the second the auditory and in the third the kinesthetic. In any case, it must be stressed that in real life such purity of perception does not exist, but instead perception combines all of these, with one predominating over the rest.
Eighth Level
Another filter of reality has its roots in the attitude of the person toward stimuli, which he constructs from his perceptive abilities based on the experiences he has lived. Such experiences generate one of the internal filters that we will call metaprograms, which are responsible for the beliefs on which he will base his standards. These standards, in turn, will conform to the values of the individual, which each person sets up as signs to mark his path, stimulating himself to pay more attention to the characteristics of the road he has set off on and everything that keeps him on it.
Ninth Level
All the information that remains after passing through the foregoing filters is directed to a ninth level of filtration. Information that reaches the brain is stored in two distinct areas: the conscious, which only takes in 10% of the data, and the unconscious, which takes in the remaining 90%. Remember that, habitually, people work with the conscious area, that is, with only 10% of the information received.
Tenth Level
To all the foregoing it should be added that the human brain functions with only 10% of its possibilities, which constitutes a tenth level of filtration of reality.
Eleventh Level
This last level of filtration of reality acts on the basis of three groups of factors: that of phylogenetic factors, which set the conditions for the evolution and adaptation of our species; the group of ontogenetic factors, which condition sensoriality beginning from gestation and pregnancy, by means of the genetic packages of the parents and the incidents of the pregnancy. From the first weeks of gestation the senses of the fetus begin to activate themselves (he sees, hears, smells, touches and tastes), capturing external stimuli from the surroundings in which his mother is immersed, and the life stimuli that she experiences (emotions, sentiments) by means of variations in the physiological state of the mother. The third group, sociogenic factors, which appear massively after birth, during the stage from childhood to old age, are those that are affected by sex, age, clinical history, habits, working life, culture and climate, among others.
Everything discussed here converts reality into a naïve reality, so long as we forget the filtration processes that our senses generate and from which they suffer.
Ref.
“LA REALIDAD INGENUA”
Joseph de Haro Licer
Hospital Municipal de Badalona
Mayo 2006
http://www.percepnet.com//perc05_06.htm
The familiar argument “I only believe in what I see and touch” is a fallacy because we do not see with our eyes or touch with our fingers; we do these things with our brains, which are subject to innumerable restrictions, filters and controls.
In the following article I have tried to show how fallible, limited and fragile our perceptions are.
Darío Salas Sommer
Academy of Sciences
Raen, Russia
Perception: A Resource and A Limitation
Our sense of our lives, of the world, depends upon the way we perceive and experience it. In general, people tend to give almost infallible credit to what they perceive through their senses. We normally believe that what we think is the truth; that our minds faithfully describes what is really out there . . . even though we know this is not so.
From the time a stimulus activates our brains until we become aware of it and attribute an interpretation to it, numerous physiological processes take place that show that, in reality, the result of this perception is highly edited to fit the way these processes operate, and brings us a version of reality that is far from being reliable, far even from following our conscious intent.
What is Perception?
Psychology defines this phenomenon as awareness at the sensory level of an object that is physically present. The sensory stimuli act as signals and perception is the result of the evocation by these stimuli of more complex patterns of perception, such as the analysis and interpretation that organize them and give them significance.
Perception of one’s surroundings depends on multiple factors that take place physiologically, leaving us little room to intervene. Sensory receptors send messages in the form of neurological currents that reach internal structures of the brain: the thalamus, the hippocampus, and the amygdale . . . where they are interpreted based on the cerebral memory banks.
Following the results of this process the ascending mesodiencephalic reticular system, the regulator of the cycles of sleep and wakefulness, will either allow the perceived stimulus to blossom into consciousness or maintain it at a subliminal level where it will be added to the cerebral memories that will continue to influence future perceptions. Attention, which is key to conscious perception, is similarly regulated by the reticular formation, which determines its activation or inhibition.
A perception is the result, therefore, of the confrontation of the sensory image with the experience, needs and expectations of the individual, from which he selects, interprets and even corrects the sensations. This confrontation takes place primarily at a physiological level, at the margin of our conscious intent, and subsequently when the subject becomes aware of the perceived stimulus and voluntarily sets in motion his interpretive mechanisms.
The search for truth is for human beings an inherent necessity, and it has been the priority objective of all schools of philosophical, psychological and scientific thought throughout the ages. Theoretical frameworks offer a guide and at the same time imply a limitation, and one works doggedly to break free of the limitations of the available tools. In recent times quantum physics has raised considerable doubts about the scientific method, demonstrating the extent to which the observer influences what is observed, which suggests also that a hypothesis may itself skew the results of an experiment.
The search for truth is for human beings an inherent necessity, and it has been the priority objective of all schools of philosophical, psychological and scientific thought throughout the ages. Theoretical frameworks offer a guide and at the same time imply a limitation, and one works doggedly to break free of the limitations of the available tools. In recent times quantum physics has raised considerable doubts about the scientific method, demonstrating the extent to which the observer influences what is observed, which suggests also that a hypothesis may itself skew the results of an experiment.
In the same manner, understanding in depth the phenomenon of perception shows us how our vision of reality depends on the points of view we adopt, on the functioning of our cognitive instrument and even on the language that we use to interpret and communicate what we perceive, resulting in a fragmented understanding that is limited to the contents of our own minds, of our psychological consciousness.
Have confronted and accepted how difficult it is for human beings to reach awareness of true reality, modern currents of constructivist thought are based on the idea that knowledge is not a copy of reality, but a construction of human beings, which they create using the formats that they have at hand, using what they have already constructed in relation to the environment that surrounds them. From this point of view, these currents of thought assert that it is not possible to arrive at absolute truth, but only to aspire to a functional, utilitarian understanding that ensures the best possible interaction of the individual with his environment.
Nonetheless: could it be possible to see reality without projecting our own fantasies and ideas onto it? Quantum physics states that the observer influences the thing he observes, and this appears to be true, but what if the person were able to maintain himself in a neutral state? Could there be a way to see reality in which the person does not overshadow, does not startle, does not disturb, does not leave an impression . . . in which the person remains cool in the face of reality . . . internally centered?
How can we optimize our vision of reality?
The only way to see reality better is to perfect our instrument of understanding, so that our true self can access reality as it really is, without mixing it up with the subjective and biased contents of our heads.
First, it is important to understand that an inadequate state of vigilance limits even more the results of our perceptions, limiting them to the automatic functioning of the brain and influencing analysis and interpretation with subliminal information that has not passed through the filter of consciousness.
At the same time, and keeping in mind that the meaning of things is not found in the sensory data, but flows instead from the mental ability to attribute to them a correct value so as to arrive at a superior judgment of the truth, it is necessary to optimize our capacity for processing, for “mental digestion,” which refers to the type of profound mental reflection in which, after having performed the most complete analysis possible by means of an awakened intelligence, we manage to grasp the intimate secret of the thing we are contemplating.
Truth is only susceptible to being understood in this manner. Through normal thought we arrive only at the surface of things. Still, fatigue, worries and the inclination to comfort, generally make people tend instinctively to “believe” in something in order to avoid the work of thinking, sometimes going through life without truly realizing what is happening around them, or even inside them.
We can easily see how each person has a different world in his head, and how he seeks to believe, to acquire security by aligning himself with majority opinions even if he knows that these too do not embody the truth.
This amounts to an instinctive self-defense behavior, a movement from the I to the We in order to feel socially integrated. We commonly play a social role, we try to please or to be able to affect others in a concrete way in order to reach a particular goal. Our true I remains hidden behind the passwords, the messages, the outside information that has penetrated our minds and that we ingenuously believe are at the root of our decisions, our desires, our limitations.
At a profound level objective opinions can only exist when one connects them to reality, free of the conditions and limitations that interfere with this process of understanding: which is only possible when one achieves a superior level of consciousness, based on a biological, cerebral awakening and on the activation of a state of alertness. Consciousness is not feeling things, but understanding at a level beyond cerebral programming, which is the only way to get to the root of understanding:
- Elevating our level of vigilance and acquiring the capacity to manage our own attention minimizes subliminal perception and the stupor that informational material “residing” in our brain brings to the interpretation that we give to our perceptions.
- Self-awareness, remembering our own identity, is the entrance hall to superior consciousness. Remembering that we are something more than our bodies, and that we must liberate ourselves from our psychic machinery so that our true Being can access the real meaning of things and relate to the world in a positive and constructive way.
- Control of one’s own attention is a priority objective. To stop having one’s attention captivated by the stimuli that impact upon our nervous systems implies the recovery of control of our I, which otherwise is permanently sucked in and hypnotized by external stimuli.
- Avoiding preconceived ideas, superstitions and beliefs, which impede reflective and rational thought. In order to evolve one must break out of established molds or, at least, know how to doubt; one must fight against the tendency to stick with the majority, promoting reflective thought in order to find wisdom in accordance with reality and our understanding of it.
- Maintaining impersonality, since only with impersonality can one open one’s eyes and see reality from a position beyond the opposing poles. This implies having no position, not giving an opinion, maintaining neutrality. A neutral vision means forgetting about oneself when trying to understand something, not giving an opinion. If one is not neutral, one contaminates what one is looking at.
- Going deeper, going beyond appearances, which are always deceptive, paying attention to the red flags, the incongruities and contradictions that warn us that there is more remaining to be discovered.
- The development of consciousness requires the processing of daily experiences, observing people’s behavior and overcoming one’s own defects and automatic functions, which manifest themselves as thoughts, emotions and reactions.
- Not believing that we think, when in reality we are “reading” from our cerebral archives.
- Not confusing automatic emotion with genuine impulses.
- Not using intellectual exercises to justify to the bitter end our reactions.
- Dismantling the false image that we have of ourselves, without fearing to discover the truth, because spirituality is based on reality, and that which has value is to be found in the real world, in real life
Regarding Perception and Knowledge (Kreitner, R., Kinicki, A. (1997)
Organizational Behavior. Madrid. McGraw-Hill.
They describe perception as a process that consists of four stages:
1. selective attention and comprehension,
2. codification and simplification,
3. warehousing and retention
4. recuperation and response.
And the following observations stand out:
- We do not perceive everything, but only things that stand out, whether because they are original or because of some other characteristic that the person finds remarkable. Information should be structured and presented so that what we consider relevant stands out above the rest.
- When one is in a state of need, stimuli related to deprivation are more eye-catching. It is easier to find what one is looking for when it is needed, or one believes that it is needed. Moreover, the greater the perception of need for something, the quicker one begins the search for it.
- Observed information is not stored in memory in its original form, but is codified by the individual in a personalized manner. Each person has a unique history. Factors like childhood caregivers, education, role models, prior experiences and states of mind consciously or unconsciously influence the conception a person has of others, of his world or of himself. For this reason, although the stimuli of a situation may be the same, the meaning (the perception) may vary for two observers, and even for the same person in two different moments of his life.
- This personalized interpretation of reality is what characterizes human perception. Agreement of the senses does not guaranty agreement of perception. Two people can concur that what they observe is a car (sensation), but, nonetheless, for one it may signify discomfort and expense and for the other sportiness and exclusivity (perception).
- Perception has a strong influence on behavior. That is, people do not behave according to objective characteristics of the reality around them, but in accordance with the perceptions they form of this reality. This at least partially explains why, given the same elements in a situation or problem, two people may behave in very different ways.
- Perception has implications concerning the acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge has previously passed through the human perceptual filter and therefore is susceptible to error, distortion or controversy.
- Perceptions as formed are intermediated by different variables: values, attitudes, motivations and knowledge. Thus two people with different values, attitudes, motivations and knowledge can have different perceptions of the same thing, person or situation and, for the same reason, different behaviors.
NAÏVE REALITY
Only in recent years has the world of science opened itself to the broad field of sensoriality. This new field constitutes a cross-over discipline, not exclusive to science, dedicated to the study and evaluation of functions, both normal and as altered by the senses.
Currently, an understanding of how the different senses take part in different human “learnings” is being developed through the broad field of sensoriality. Our senses are the medium through which exterior and interior stimuli can be captured. Senses are also tools for evaluating individuals’ states of health, so that navigating the sensorial world requires certain basic knowledge.
The first consideration starts from the premise that everyone lives life from within his own personal reality. We will call this “naïve reality.” There is another reality, absolute reality, which is responsible for generating an infinite number of events that can be captured in the form of a multitude of stimuli. This reality is unreachable by man or any other living being on our planet. Only the most limited part of that reality, only an infinitesimal part of it, reaches us. And only the smallest part of what reaches our senses will be converted to a captured stimulus, of which a miniscule fragment will be converted into emotion that will be processed in the form of sentiment.
The explanation for all this narrowing down of the number of stimuli to which we can have access is found in our senses, to be understood as both our sensory organs and as externalized extensions of our central nervous system. The senses are in charge of capturing stimuli. But not all stimuli, only those that are ready to be detected. Our senses thus become filters of reality, creating the appearance of this second reality that we have called naïve. We speak of naïve reality when we believe that that which we see, hear, touch, smell or taste is absolute reality. But it only amounts to a sensorial interpretation of a part of reality. We living beings are made up of a collection of filters that, at the same time that they separate us from reality, join us to it, like a bridge that joins two riverbanks and is at the same time their most conspicuous divider.
Levels of Sensorial Filters
First Level
Our brain is made up of a hundred trillion neurons, whose principal mission is to reject 99% of the informational stimuli that we receive. Only 1% of all the information that reaches us, that surrounds us in the form of stimuli, is stored, from which we see the first level of reality filter or of reality reducer. Only 1% of the information that reaches us is accepted by our brain.
Second Level
The only stimuli that man can capture are those that activate his senses. And there are only two kinds of stimuli. First, those derived from waves, whether electromagnetic (light, color . . .) processed by the sense of sight, from pressure (sound, tactile stimuli . . .) processed by the senses of hearing and touch, or thermal (hear, cold) processed by the skin. And second, chemical substances, processed by the senses of smell and taste.
Outside of these paths of perception any other type of stimulus ceases to exist; the events generated by reality that give rise to stimuli different from these cease, as far their perception is concerned, to be captured: they are non-existent. Therefore, the senses are the second filter of reality: only stimuli for which the senses are prepared (smell for odors, hearing for sounds, sight for light, touch for tactile sensations . . .) will be captured.
Third Level
The third level of narrowing of reality is found at the operational fringes of the functioning of each of the senses. Sight sees light and colors, but only some colors, not all. It cannot see infrareds or ultraviolets. Nor can it see all intensities. Hearing captures sounds, but not all of them: it cannot hear ultrasounds or infrasounds. Smell captures odors, but not all of them . . .
Fourth Level
The fourth filter of reality, or of reduced reality, comes down to the senses’ capacity to perceive the only the variations in the stimuli for which they are adapted. A constant stimulus is categorized as null, non-existent. If a sound remains constant in intensity and frequency it ceases to be captured as such: the ear ignores it. If a light has the same intensity and frequency the sense of sight ignores it. And the same goes for touch.
Fifth Level
Another reality filter that trips us up consists of information that the senses send to the brain, where it is processed in the form of emotions (a huge set of stimuli and responses). Each person functions differently at the moment of capturing and processing stimuli that are converted into emotions.
Sixth Level
On the sixth level, reality is filtered when emotions become sentiments. The brain makes a selection of the information reaching it that will be allowed entry, partially storing it. This means that not all emotion gives rise to sentiments. For example, spoken language is a magnificent faculty that we use to transmit our thoughts from one brain to another: it is the principal medium of communication to connect concepts to words, permitting us to share thoughts, sentiments, conceptualized emotions, and to transmit knowledge, customs and values. It is accepted that people communicate with the outside world by means of the word.
Nonetheless, this idea is incorrect, since communication through verbal language only conveys7% of the total information. The remaining 93% is non-verbal. Included in this non-verbal communication are tone of voice (a 38% share) and visual aspects such as eye movements, facial expressions, body movements or postures (with a 55% share). Communication is complemented by the rest of the senses: taste, smell and touch. In other words, emotions that are recorded in the form of sentiments spring from the different sources of stimuli that we have mentioned, so that language ceases to be the principal medium of communication, and therefore collapses as the principal pathway for the production of emotions.
Seventh Level
This level of filtration of reality operates as a function of the channels of perception that predominate in the individual. Each person has an unconscious system of references that causes mainly visual, auditory or kinesthetic-tactile (relating to sensations and touch) to be captured. This means that each person captures more easily information that comes to him through his predominant channel: some people capture first visual or auditory stimuli, or internal sensations . . .
We can illustrate the filtration that takes place at this level using a hypothetical situation: suppose that three people go to the Prado Museum to “contemplate” the Nude Maja by Goya. If, after their contemplation, you ask each of them how he would define the experience, one might say, “it’s like a gush of colors,” another might explain that “it’s like a waltz of life” and the third might respond, “it gives me a feeling of softness and heat.” Each would have seen the same picture, but would have allowed himself to be subjugated to the channel to which his personality was most sensitive. In the first the visual channel would predominate, in the second the auditory and in the third the kinesthetic. In any case, it must be stressed that in real life such purity of perception does not exist, but instead perception combines all of these, with one predominating over the rest.
Eighth Level
Another filter of reality has its roots in the attitude of the person toward stimuli, which he constructs from his perceptive abilities based on the experiences he has lived. Such experiences generate one of the internal filters that we will call metaprograms, which are responsible for the beliefs on which he will base his standards. These standards, in turn, will conform to the values of the individual, which each person sets up as signs to mark his path, stimulating himself to pay more attention to the characteristics of the road he has set off on and everything that keeps him on it.
Ninth Level
All the information that remains after passing through the foregoing filters is directed to a ninth level of filtration. Information that reaches the brain is stored in two distinct areas: the conscious, which only takes in 10% of the data, and the unconscious, which takes in the remaining 90%. Remember that, habitually, people work with the conscious area, that is, with only 10% of the information received.
Tenth Level
To all the foregoing it should be added that the human brain functions with only 10% of its possibilities, which constitutes a tenth level of filtration of reality.
Eleventh Level
This last level of filtration of reality acts on the basis of three groups of factors: that of phylogenetic factors, which set the conditions for the evolution and adaptation of our species; the group of ontogenetic factors, which condition sensoriality beginning from gestation and pregnancy, by means of the genetic packages of the parents and the incidents of the pregnancy. From the first weeks of gestation the senses of the fetus begin to activate themselves (he sees, hears, smells, touches and tastes), capturing external stimuli from the surroundings in which his mother is immersed, and the life stimuli that she experiences (emotions, sentiments) by means of variations in the physiological state of the mother. The third group, sociogenic factors, which appear massively after birth, during the stage from childhood to old age, are those that are affected by sex, age, clinical history, habits, working life, culture and climate, among others.
Everything discussed here converts reality into a naïve reality, so long as we forget the filtration processes that our senses generate and from which they suffer.
Ref.
“LA REALIDAD INGENUA”
Joseph de Haro Licer
Hospital Municipal de Badalona
Mayo 2006
http://www.percepnet.com//perc05_06.htm