Human Perception

1186 Words3 Pages

Human Perception: An Intimate Look Into The Most Intriguing Aspect of Modern Psychology.

It determines what we see, what we do, what we feel. It controls our

emotions, our thoughts, and our conscience. What is this remarkable element of

the human mind? It is called perception. Perception as defined in the Merrian-

Webster Dictionary as the following-

1 a : awareness of the elements of environment through physical

sensation

b: Physical sensation interpreted in the light of experience

2 a : quick, acute, and intuitive cognition : APPRECIATION

b : capacity for comprehension

Perception. As hard as it is to define it, it is impossible to correctly

conceive a "correct" or "right" way to use it. Perception varies with not only

humans, but with virtually all other animals as well, whether through instinct

or with conscious thought. Let us take this a step farther. When a bee looks at

a flower that is meant for feeding from, they do not only notice the colors the

human mind sees. The bee sees a yellow "run-way" directly into the core of the

flower, guiding it into the source of nectar. This brings us to the question-

"is what we see real, or is what we see our own reality?". What the human mind

sees is only three dimensions. Since Albert Einstein first conjured the

scientific possibility of a fourth dimension, human beings have longed to see it.

Many people assume that it does not exist simply because they cannot see it.

They are not able to see the yellow "run-way" into the heart of a flower, but to

the bee and an ultraviolet light, that "run-way" is certainly real. People's

physical use of their own perception is very limited, as such noticeable in the

"tunnel-vision" effect. A good example of the Tunnel Vision effect is a

perception or thought such as "if I cannot see it, it simply does not exist". We

as humans are limited not only to what we can sense, but how we perceive what we

sense. Such is a formidable question. What if that fourth dimension does exist,

what if we can see it , only our brain cannot perceive it being there, therefor

it never exists in the first place. I would consider that as a paradox.

Where does perception come from? Is it a result of the upbringing and

surroundings of an individual (animal or human), or is it a result of genetics?

Certainly I would believe that conditioning has a great impact on an

individual's perception. An example to that would be as such : A dog is abused,

Open Document