To what extent can we as humans be objective in our understanding of human behaviour - Essay Example

al’s psychic sphere, etc., there has always been a question: to what extend can a human being remain objective while explaining the reasons for another human’s behaviour? After all, being humans, not only we are prone to mistakes, but we also have our own subjective experience, and which is more personality peculiarities, which may – and actually do – influence the way we perceive things and interpret the motives for another people’s actions and other people’s thoughts. People do not perceive the world as it is; their own mind creates a certain picture of the world that differs from the reality, and every person has the picture of his or her own.

This was discovered long ago by a Polish engineer Alfred Korzibsky at the beginning of the 20th century. A most interesting saying belongs to him that says ‘The map is not the territory’ (Korzibsky 1933, np); under ‘the map’ our perception of the world is meant, and ‘the territory’ is the objective world itself. Fairly the same concept is reflected in the works of the sophists in the Ancient Greece who were constantly trying to find an answer to the question if it is possible to comprehend the truth, and if anything exists in the human mind apart from opinions?

They were the adherents of Phenomenalism: the theory that stated that we only can perceive those ideas that find themselves in our minds, not the real objects of the world as they are all outside of our minds, and therefore it is incorrect and even useless to even try evaluating anybody or anything that is outside our minds. Conceptual biases: the way we as a group collectively organize our mental views, beliefs and perceptions about life and the universe, which influences what we notice, what we seek to learn, and how we interpret phenomena.

Personal biases: the individual experiences and personality that form our personal interests, likes and dislikes, characteristics, etc., which influence what and how each of us seeks to learn and