Perception is reality: True or False?

Solar Empath said:
Well there's 'Objective' Reality: A solid is solid, all triangles have 3 sides.
There's Scientific Reality: E=mc^2
Then there's Psychological Reality: I only scored 80% on my test, I am a useless person / I scored 80% on my test, I really tied hard and did well!

There's sensory perception: The truck is Red
Then there's emotional perception: She looks upset, it is because she hates me / She looks upset, I bet she needs me to cheer her up / She looks upset, I better give her some space.

Your perception of and responses to subjective reality affect your life and translate into objective changes in your life.

But no matter how you perceive it, a red truck is red.
Click to expand...

yes I like this!

its like what i said...my perception is my reality...while I might perceive the emotion in another, how I interpret the feeling will be my reality...not yours...SEE!!
 
Solar Empath said:
Well there's 'Objective' Reality: A solid is solid, all triangles have 3 sides.

There's Scientific Reality: E=mc^2

Then there's Psychological Reality: I only scored 80% on my test, I am a useless person / I scored 80% on my test, I really tied hard and did well!

There's sensory perception: The truck is Red

Then there's emotional perception: She looks upset, it is because she hates me / She looks upset, I bet she needs me to cheer her up / She looks upset, I better give her some space.

Your perception of and responses to subjective reality affect your life and translate into objective changes in your life.

But no matter how you perceive it, a red truck is red.
Click to expand...

Good working definitions of the different types of reality.
 
Restraint said:
What is the relationship between perception and reality?

  1. Is perception reality?
  2. Is reality merely a perception?
*To what extent is the following statement true:
"My perception is your reality*
​
Click to expand...
Perception is the experience of reality. There is an objective reality that exists outside the distortions and reinterpretations of perception. You can imagine a block of Decon is a brownie, and that perception can be so vivid that the taste of chocolate fudge makes your mouth water as you eat it, but in the end it will kill you because its nature exists outside of the influence of subjective, personal perceptions.
 
Last edited:
Mmm, some really good points in this thread.

Reminds me of the question, "If a tree falls down in the forrest with nothing to hear it, does it make a sound?"

That never made sense to me. The sound waves are created, of course it makes a sound!
 
NeverAmI said:
Reminds me of the question, "If a tree falls down in the forrest with nothing to hear it, does it make a sound?"

That never made sense to me. The sound waves are created, of course it makes a sound!
Click to expand...

But sound waves are simply particles bumping into each other in a particular way, it's the brain that makes them into "sound" through the use of the ear drum. So does it actually count as "sound" if there is no ear drum around to convert those waves into electrical signals to the brain? :m083:
 
I read about this kinda stuff in "Drive yourself sane" book. As humans, we are not physically capable of experiencing reality fully. Not even close. Our experience is what our physical senses pick up and translate to our brain.

Consider:
1. We only see visible light. We're missing out on a big part of the spectrum of radio waves. Imagine if we could physically sense infra red waves, radio waves, microwaves, x-rays.
2. We can only see in a certain range. Imagine if our eyes were capable of seeing what we see now, as well as down to the microscopic level, as well as up to the telescopic level.
3. Imagine if we could hear sound waves of all frequencies. Even very very faint ones.
4. If we had the nose of a dog.
5. And what of interpretation? Everything we sense is filtered into something that makes sense by our brain. What if we were 100x smarter and had perfect memory? What if we had a different value system? What if we could fly 1000km/h and take all of this in at an exponentially higher rate?
6. What is hot? And what is cold? This is based on what our bodies are biologically comfortable with. What if we were comfortable at 100 degrees celsius?
7. Imagine throwing every one of these points together into 1 entity. You have an unimaginable sensory overload compared to what we are capable of doing now.

These are just some examples to help you comprehend.
 
Last edited:
^^^
what pierce said, and then to take it one step further and drive you completely insane; how do you know that any of 'reality' is real? When we dream, the dream becomes alive. We get a sense of physical, taste, sound, smell, and so on. For all we know life is nothing more than a dream. For all we know reality isn't actuality. For all we know, we know absolutely nothing.

Like Descartes said, "I think, I am". I believe it to be true. Since we question our existence, we must be something. But that's about all I'm comfortable in say I know 100% for sure. I am something, but what that something is, well I'm clueless.
 
mf said:
^^^
what pierce said, and then to take it one step further and drive you completely insane; how do you know that any of 'reality' is real? When we dream, the dream becomes alive. We get a sense of physical, taste, sound, smell, and so on. For all we know life is nothing more than a dream. For all we know reality isn't actuality. For all we know, we know absolutely nothing.

Like Descartes said, "I think, I am". I believe it to be true. Since we question our existence, we must be something. But that's about all I'm comfortable in say I know 100% for sure. I am something, but what that something is, well I'm clueless.
Click to expand...

You need to see "Waking Life," my friend. It would blow your mind.
 
DefectiveCreative said:
But sound waves are simply particles bumping into each other in a particular way, it's the brain that makes them into "sound" through the use of the ear drum. So does it actually count as "sound" if there is no ear drum around to convert those waves into electrical signals to the brain? :m083:
Click to expand...

Guess it depends on your definition of sound.
 
Last edited:
I'm waiting for Duty's answer, his will be best.
 
Wow, pretty interesting points mentioned so far.
 
Perception is how we look at the world through our karma, identity, upbringing, psychology, personality. Reality is the way it is.
 
Oh God I've been struggling with this one it gives me such a head ache.

*Runs for the hills*
 
Metaphor time!

If there is a white-shelled egg on a table, and you are looking at it through pink glasses, is the egg not still white?

I prefer the question "is reality subjective". Perception is based on how the brain organizes and generalizes things. It is bound to leave things out, so, in short, I don't really think that perception is reality.

However, people cannot always control what they percieve...so...
I'll be back to finish this thought.
 
Ah, this forum has helped me LOADS in my theory of knowledge class.

Thanks to you all.

We talked about perception (and still do) a lot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top