Reality And Perception Essay

712 Words2 Pages

Perceptions, beliefs, knowledge, truth, reality; these terms are all part of the larger framework of critical thinking. We deal with and use all of these concepts daily. Some concepts and events in life are not given much thought, others given more deep reflection and analysis. I will discuss how I utilize these parts of the thought process daily with decision-making and how I try to bring them all together in truly critical thinking to delineate perception from reality.

In my daily life, I deal with events as they occur based on three things: perceptions, beliefs, and facts. If it is a small occurrence that does not hold too much importance in my notice, then I rely mainly on my perceptions and knowledge based on past events to react …show more content…

I’m not sure one ever can fully, but I attempt to do so to the best of my ability. First, as stated in Thinking Critically, I must realize what my lenses and filters are that prevent me from seeing the entire situation and from seeing the picture clearly. Once I have identified those tendencies or stereotypes, then I must combat them by looking at different angles, like being a devil’s advocate. Then I will form beliefs. These beliefs are based on: how I have internalized my perceptions into a pattern that makes sense to me, what other people see, and questions I have asked myself and others that may present the situation in a new light. Additionally, I must realize that what others see or relay to me could be false and they want to manipulate my perceptions. I then form conclusions about all of these perspectives and analysis, called beliefs. To me these beliefs are true based on what knowledge I currently have. To know if these beliefs are really truth or reality, however, I must dig even deeper. I must questions these beliefs with facts and use tests to see if they still hold true. Beliefs that are not falsifiable, that cannot be tested, still remain beliefs. Examples of non-falsifiable beliefs would be morals. How can you prove that a moral you hold dear is true? I don’t believe that you can. You can justify it with other beliefs and examples, but I don’t think you can ever prove it to 100% true, an irrefutable fact. After testing beliefs in multiple ways, I can then determine what is truth and reality. In the end, to know what is reality and what is not, we must constantly question our

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