Recently, I had a conversation with someone, and I came away puzzled. She made a few politically motivated remarks, and I’m certain that my face expressed my confusion as I have no poker face whatsoever. My confusion stemmed from the fact that she was absolutely convinced of the accuracy of her statements. However, during the conversation, she also told me what network she watched to obtain the information, and I instantly understood why she was so certain of her remarks. She was watching a biased news network that only reports one side of the issues. (There are networks on both sides of the political spectrum that do this so it’s important to choose our news media wisely.)
Conversely, as I scroll through YouTube on a regular basis, I am greeted by content that claims the same assumptions, the exact opposite of her views, or a middle ground approach. Dwelling on this, I recognized that the difference is often about our perception of reality instead of the actual facts. This person was motivated by the perception that her political views were sound and correct. Being an independent thinker, I was equally motivated by the perception that her political views were one-sided.
All of us operate from our perception of reality, and since our perceptions are all different, we see issues in diverse ways. As Taylor (2019) wrote, perception is a way of understanding, and it is very personal and, therefore, individual. However, perception is not actually reality. Instead, it is how we perceive reality through our experiences, cultures, religions, and personal distortions. This means our perceptions can be wrong.
When we look at any situation, we need to take the time to filter our thoughts to determine if we are looking at something through our perception of reality – which tends to be one-sided – or if we are seeing the reality – which will be able to see the situation from multiple perspectives. Often, we are so tied to our perception of things that we don’t want to question if it is reality or not, and we or our loved ones cling to misguided views because we are uncomfortable looking at someone else’s perspective or admitting we are wrong.
I no longer view content from news media that only has a liberal or conservative leaning because it does not give enough realistic information. Instead, those networks tweak the news to only show their preferred side of an issue, and sadly, this leads to many confusing conversations like I had recently. One-sided content leads to misguided individuals who are certain in their views, but in reality, other people are just shaking their heads in puzzlement at what amounts to deliberate ignorance.
Taylor (2019) advises us to be careful of how tightly we hold onto our perceptions. I have several friends and family members who think differently from me, and I am endlessly fascinated at how they assume I feel the same way. This is the distortion of perception in action. They believe they are correct so they assume others believe the same thing. It’s both fascinating and frightening to watch, and it reveals to me how families have been split apart by political divisions. It is unwise to assume someone sees things the same way as we do so, if we aren’t certain, we should tread carefully when dealing with certain issues. Taylor also advises us to give people freedom to have their own perspectives, and he advises us to challenge our own perceptions. Let’s be honest. If we aren’t willing to look deeply into our own perceptions, we just might be afraid of what we will find there, and that’s an unhealthy place to be.
When we research everyday issues, it is important to acknowledge our perception on our journey to determine what the reality of the topic is. Binding ourselves without question to our perception does not alter the reality of the issue. Be certain when you look at anything that you filter the facts through the reality of multiple perceptions instead of the narrowness of a single perception.
Reference:
Taylor, Jim, Ph.D. (2019, August 5). “Perception Is Not Reality.” Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-power-prime/201908/perception-is-not-reality?msockid=2aa4f9a8e76261782d39e878e6b46096
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And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. (John 8:32, NKJV)
All Things Subject to Change 