Is it possible for us to view something for what it is, or one another for who we really are — or are we really looking through the thick fog of our own perceptions and making out the rough shape of the thing that we think we see?
It’s as if we are looking at the same house in different rooms. We will describe the house differently, and each room is in fact different. The individual in the bedroom may be describing the bed and the dresser, while another in the bathroom is going on about sinks and shower heads.
They’re both correct. We are, I would argue, often describing different parts of the whole. But we will disagree over who is right. And we see this all the time.
It should really not be a surprise that we are overloaded with perceptions that we may not consciously elect to allow into our psyche. Every day, we are hyper-exposed to outside perceptions in the news, on social media, and from those around us.
How many of the things we think we think are the result of careful consideration, verses perceptions that have made their way into our subconscious outlook on life? We cannot be expected to actively parse — through research or praxis — all of this data on a daily basis.
I would suggest that one solution is to expand our ways of looking at things through exposure to new ways of thinking and concepts. New perspectives, even if we don’t agree with them, open up the possibilities. And maybe that’s a philosopher from another time period discussing a concept that’s applicable, or looking at it psychologically or through metaphor.
Perhaps it comes down to distancing ourselves from our locked-in perceptions and opening up to the notion that oftentimes we are locked into an ego position that has decided its views are immutable; examining our perceptions.
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