Reality is Perception!

Unfortunately, perceptions are necessarily held in check by the abilities of the perceivers; and this is true of both of the major senses of the term "perceptions". In the sense employed by the original poster, our intellectual assessments of 'objective reality' are subjectively limited, in general, to the scope of human understanding, and more specifically to the abilities (or lack thereof) of each individual to widen or tighten that "scope" in the interest of proper focus. The strength of those "abilities" is the fruition of genetics and the various environments in which a person's natural predisposition has been cultivated through his or her experiences. Likewise, our sensual perceptions are limited, because the modes from which they arise are restricted to ranges, which, even when aided by the most advanced microscopes, telescopes, hearing aids, and any other sense-enhancers yet afforded by technology, are not comprehensive. Accordingly, only a portion of the story of the objective nature of reality is told by what we see, hear, touch, smell, and taste on a regular basis.

The question is: to what degree should we allow our perceptions (in the former sense) to rely upon what might escape our perceptions (in the latter sense)?

[edit on 3-12-2008 by Icarus_Fallen]

reply to post by Icarus_Fallen



"perceptions are necessarily held in check by the abilities of the perceivers"

wow icarus that is awesome.
did you read that somewhere?

or conclude it after reading this thread?

coz thats what i was feeling, but unaware of...

reply to post by ElectroMagnetic Multivers


Cheers EMM,

i feel your predicament,

its hard to "believe" anything these days, we have been led astray for too long now...
but dont be so hard on your self, as you "know" far more than you will ever "realise"

its time to reclaim our freedom of thought, and more importantly EXERSIZE it!

reply to post by Icarus_Fallen


Plato would say that a chair is merely a copy of an ideal chair which cannot exist in our world. To write about a chair, or take a picture of it, or draw it, is then a copy of a copy, and all the further from "truth".

Aristotle, on the other hand (if I'm remembering this correctly) argued that the summation of all of our individual experiences with chairs leads us to a mental image of the concept of "chairness" by which we can judge all chairs we encounter.

Later philosophers would extend that further and say that when we think about chairs, we cannot help but hear the sound "chair" in our heads... the word has no value, but the sound does, and that sound is tied to our concept or image of "chair" as described by Aristotle.

Originally posted by Zeus187
We need to remember that no matter how incorrect a persons perception may be, Ultimately that perception is what forms their reality...

I thought this was common knowledge.

Josh,

From my perspective, in every instance of perception, aspects of something are represented objectively to the perceivers. The common mistake is to conflate various groupings of "aspects" to numerous “something(s)”. This is something we (humans) do, in order to make sense of the universe we perceive. Certain groupings of attributes made available to the senses are consciously designated as autonomous 'objects'. What's left unaccounted for in the process is the fact that these "conscious designations" arise not only from what's perceived; they're equally grounded on what's not perceived, namely that which remains beyond the scope of human perception: the underlying oneness of reality.

Originally posted by Icarus_Fallen
Josh,

From my perspective, in every instance of perception, aspects of something are represented objectively to the perceivers. The common mistake is to conflate various groupings of "aspects" to numerous “something(s)”. This is something we (humans) do, in order to make sense of the universe we perceive. Certain groupings of attributes made available to the senses are consciously designated as autonomous 'objects'. What's left unaccounted for in the process is the fact that these "conscious designations" arise not only from what's perceived; they're equally grounded on what's not perceived, namely that which remains beyond the scope of human perception: the underlying oneness of reality.

Interesting. Then if only some aspects are represented objectively, is it the variance of which aspects that makes perception subjective? I may be more attracted to some identifiers because of the way I'm wired, or my interests, experience or knowledge than you? There IS an objective reality for each object but our own subjective natures can never fully agree on ALL of those aspects, so we agree to what common ones we can?

I'm pretty new to critical theory. Another bit I read recently, I think it was Lacan, said that without lack we'd have no need for language. If we had everything we desired immediately available to us at all times, we'd have no need to name things. It is only through desire for those things that are absent that we need language. Interesting thought...

[edit on 12/12/2008 by JoshNorton]

I agree with what is being said here, I think also an important thing to point out is how interpretting your perceptions, which ultimately will become what you percieve can change your life, everything from mood to direction.

For example, when stuck in traffic, going to be late for work, you can get frustrated and angry, or worry and sit fretting in the car. Or you could, with the same situation, realise there was nothing you can do, and just put on the music and try to relax.

This difference in perception often has to be re learnt, as many of us pick up bad habits from our parents. Seeing as the bio chemical response of the body is affected by emotion, and this emotion can be altered merely by the way you enterpret events, simply changing your attitude or thought processes can affect your whole existence.

This is the same basic concept behind positive mental attitude, and the law of attraction.

Josh,

…Then if only some aspects are represented objectively, is it the variance of which aspects that makes perception subjective?[…]

Partially, to be sure.

However, I think the subjectivity of perception is more the product of the mode of information gathering than any “variance” in the groupings of aspects represented. Of course, that’s qualified by my belief that there exists only One Observer with many points of view from which to see Itself; and every one of those “points” (or positions) affords a purely subjective take on the surrounding area.

…I may be more attracted to some identifiers because of the way I'm wired, or my interests, experience or knowledge than you?[…]

Yes, from your perspective (or perhaps more properly, from the perspective that is you), certain aspects of objective reality may be more or less compelling relative to other viewpoints.

…There IS an objective reality for each object but our own subjective natures can never fully agree on ALL of those aspects, so we agree to what common ones we can?[…]

I would say that perception offers very limited views of objective reality; and those limitations delineate the many subjective boundaries from which the Universe interacts with Itself.

…Another bit I read recently, I think it was Lacan, said that without lack we'd have no need for language. If we had everything we desired immediately available to us at all times, we'd have no need to name things. It is only through desire for those things that are absent that we need language. […]

I think this principle goes well beyond language. Certainly, “desire” and “need” have been the motivation for many formulations.

i think you guys lost me somewhere...

thats some deep stuff!

This thread was going to some good places...then just stopped...
I haven't been on ATS for a while and I only just got your U2U now.
Awesome discussion, and some really interesting points, anyway.

reply to post by PeaceUk


yeah i was off ATS for ages too

it is quite refeshing,

i struggle to find threads worthy of keystrokes these days...
its late here, ill come back later with my philosophy socks on...