We Only See What We Want to See - Essay Example

We only see what we want to see We only see what we want to see Many a times in life people are faced with different situations where the decisions they make depend on their perceptions regarding the situation. Research shows that similar people being faced with the same situation will handle it differently due to the fact that they perceive it differently. People will always tend to act according to what they deem to be beneficial and convenient for them even if they know the results may be otherwise. This has led scholars to conclude that the brains of human beings convert the images registered by the eyes depending on the past memory of the individual or what the individual has an idea about. Thus, the perceptions of an individual will be limited to the memory and past images observed (Good, 2010, p. 44). In most cases, when a person sees a totally new thing, its image does not register in his or her brain instantly since the past has no previous record of the image. Hence, the person is likely to forget all that he or she saw (Knuuttila & Karkkainen, 2008, p. 24). According to Hill (2001, p. 124), perception refers to the interpreting and organizing of the environmental information received by our senses. Knuuttila & Karkkainen (2008, p. 24) also point out that perception is an activity of the senses of the soul. This implies that our perceptions will depend on what has been registered by our senses. The phrase “we see what we want to see”, hence, obtains its meaning since people do not always bind their eyes to their soul and their senses. Despite what they see, their perceptions and conclusions will still depend on their desires and their interests. Two theories of perception that add on to the argument of visual perceptions include bottom-up theories. These theories were founded by the researcher called Gibson, thus, are also referred to as the Gibsonian theories. He states out that perception is direct and instant (Hill, 2001, p. 124). Gibson also believes that from a single optical array a person can obtain all the information which they need to form a concrete conclusion. He states that the information is directly perceived without any processing being undertaken. Gibson believes that prior knowledge is not of any importance in our perceptions. Thus, individuals will make full and conclusive judgments from only what they see and without consulting their past experiences. He also brings in the idea that movement or motion is very necessary for perception to occur. For individuals to get a clear vision of what they see, they have to make some motion or add in some concentration since it will determine the amount of information they will be able to obtain. A brush through an image will not provide enough information and, thus, the mind might register nothing. In such instances, the individual might not be able to make a good perception due to limited information. Judging from Gibson’s theory of perception, we find that he also supports the fact that we see what we want to see. This is because, according to him, it is individuals who will determine the amount of information that they get and they will also determine how well they perceive it by their motions. He also supports it by bringing in the idea of different perceptions arising mainly due to the need of survival of human beings. For instance, let’s consider two people, one with a need for a seat and another with a need for fire. The two will perceive a fallen tree-trunk differently, depending on their need. One will think of how he can sit on it and the other will think of how he can use it to make fire. Thus, what each person sees is directly obtained from his or her need. So, he called such situations the possibilities for action affordances (Hayes, 2000, p. 37). The first individual would not have seen the sense of fire in the trunk since he was not in need of a fire. The same case applies with the second individual. Thus, the perceptions of both individuals were guided by what they wanted. The second set of theories described by Hill is called Top-Down theories, mostly referred to as constructivist theories. This was conceived by a researcher by the name Richard Gregory who stated that perception is a very active process which is determined by sensory data which is registered from an individual’s past experience, past knowledge and his or her expectations. He opposes the assertions of Gibson by stating that information only is not enough to help us in constructing our perceptions. This is because, in most cases, we do not have all the information required to obtain solid conclusions (Hill, 2001, p. 125). He also affirms that there may be times when an individual will obtain the wrong information due to lack of the motion stated by Gibson. Thus, during such instances, the individual will make the wrong perceptions. He states that it is during such times that an individual will start having illusions. In addition, Gregory noted that our perceptions involve a lot of hypothesis testing, where by the hypothesis is determined by our past experiences and the information stored in our brains. Referring to Gregory’s theory, we also find it evident that we see what we want to see since individuals can be able to control their perceptions by controlling the amount of information that they store in their brains. The relevance of the hypothesis of their information will also determine the perceptions of individuals. A factor given by Gregory that will determine the hypothesis that they store in their minds is the level of importance of the information to them. An individual who values a particular thing will store full information concerning it as compared to another who does not care about the item. Thus, an individual will only see that which is important to him. According to the theory, an individual will also determine what they keep in their long term memory, thus, determining how they will perceive similar things in future. Another theory of perception given by Hill (2001, p. 125) is the perceptual set theory. He provides that perceptual set theory is an active process that involves selection, inference and interpretation. It states out that it is an individual who will select and determine how he will perceive different ideas depending on his expectations, past experience, motivation and emotion. Hill gives an example of a person who has been starving and another who wears rags. Both individuals are motivated by different things, the former being food and the latter clothes. Therefore, one of them will be more drawn to picture of food and drinks while the other will be more drawn to pictures of clothes and probably shoes. Hence, their perceptions will also be shaped by their motivations. Again, this supports the fact that these two men will only see what they want to see, in this case, their motivations. Other factors that shape our perceptions and consequently what we see are attitude and emotions (Hayes, 2000, p. 42). A research conducted among students in a school stated that students who had a bad attitude towards something were likely to hate all other things associated with it. They were also unlikely to use such things as examples in class while giving examples. Hence, Hayes provides that the attitude we have towards something will determine how we perceive such a thing. Thus, a person will only see what his or her attitude tells them to see. Take for instance, a person with a bad attitude towards a policeman. The person will tend to see policemen as bad people even when he meets one who is good. This is because this is what his attitude tells him to see. Culture will also shape our perceptions and, consequently, how we see things. Different people brought up in different cultures will tend to perceive similar things differently. Take, for instance, a person whose culture forbids him from eating of some foods. The person will have a different view about such foods as compared to another whose culture does not forbid. Thus, the first person will tend to judge things from the view of food. Let’s take the case, for instance, when a person is invited to a party, the choice of whether to attend will be shaped by the kinds of foods being served at the party. Another individual invited to the same party but whose culture forbids a particular kind of music, will decide on whether to attend the party depending on the kind of music being played there. Again, it supports the idea that we see what we want to see. These two individuals see parties based on two different perspectives. The first sees food and the other, music. In my opinion, individuals only see what they want to see, indeed. Among a mountain of things, an individual will select a single item out of the whole multitude just because it is of interest to him or her. The convincing power in us also drives us to see what it tells us to see. Thus, we end up shaping our own visions. References Good, J. (2010). Wittgenstein and the Theory of Perception, London, Continuum International Publishing Group. Hayes, N. (2000). Foundations of Psychology, (3rd ed.), London, Cengage Learning EMEA. Hill, G. (2001). A Level Psychology Through Diagrams, (2nd ed.), London, Oxford University Press. Knuuttila, S., & Karkkaiken, P. (2008). Theories of Perception in Medieval and Early Modern Philosophy. Finland, Springer. Read More