The Uncertainty of Perception
"Seeing conditions what we believe…believing conditions what we see."
This observation is the core of society and the substratum of human behavior.
Psychological studies have reinforced and proven theories involving the
conditioning of humans. However, failure lies in the attempt to assign the
causes to a single concept. Among the vast influences for human behavior is our
tendency to see what our beliefs would have us to, and hence, believe only what
we happen to see. Obviously, my previous statement only obfuscates our attempt
to comprehend the intended notion. In order to attain total understanding of
the profound thought the quotation develops, I will attempt to analyze and
apply it to my experience and knowledge of conditioning. Primarily, I need a
concise interpretation of the idea. The contextual definition of see is
"to perceive by the eye." Unfortunately, sight, is only one of five
senses. Even worse, the images we see through our eyes are statistically only
one-millionth of our actual reality. Therefore, anything we see is not the
entire being or actuality of the world around us but instead a finite
perception (by means of vision) of the universe. The technical definition of
the other key term, belief, is "a state or habit of mind in which trust or
confidence is placed in some person or thing." In context, I will use the
typical philosopher's definition and define belief as "the unthinking
acceptance of an idea or system of ideas." Philosophically, belief is
"blind" and is described as "the process of making a commitment
to an idea in order to make that idea work for you." In a selfish sense,
it is the process of making ideas true. Transitionally, the quotation can be
interpreted as "Our finite perception of reality determines what we will
accept as the truth, and what we view as the truth will alter our already
limited perceptions of life." Although wordy, a better connotation is
produced and the coherence of the concept is increased.
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn, "if
you believe in me, I'll believe in you. Is that a bargain?" writes Lewis
Carroll in his piece, Through the Looking-Glass. The situation of the Unicorn
and Man appears to be that neither believed in the other because they had never
seen the other species, thus illustrating the age-old slogan "Seeing is
believing." In today's modern society that maxim is evident. Due to the
Unicorn's discovery of Man, the Unicorn can now hold a belief that man does
indeed exist. Does the man not feel the same? The Unicorn had never before
sensed Man and when it saw one, all of the rumors it had heard about man before
suddenly transformed from speculation into truth, and that certainty is now
accepted in the Unicorn's mind. David Hume best described the relation of what
we see and believe when he said the following about his "Bundle of
Perceptions" theory: "What we call a mind is nothing more than a heap
or collection of different perceptions, united together by certain relations,
and supposed, though falsely, to be endowed with a perfect simplicity and identity."
Hume's idea is that our mind is the storage of the "Bundle of
Perceptions" we experience everyday and from these we form a unity or
belief. These relations prove how "Seeing conditions what we
believe."
Although our perceptions are finite, belief plays a major role in what we see
as well. Marcus Aurelius said it best when he proclaimed that "Our life is
what our thoughts make it." In other words, as humans we subconsciously
act how we think we should. Our actions are based upon our beliefs. We do what
we think we ought to. If the subconscious can control our actions, then what
stops it from controlling our senses? Nothing. Tragically, the insurmountable
uncertainty of what we see is increased even more when we apply the knowledge
that our vision is indeed limited. Doubt runs through our minds when the
painstaking reality that the same beliefs we have encompassed into our lives
are now known to have based on our unreliable vision. This same doubt forces us
as humans to make ourselves reinforce our beliefs by spreading them and forcing
them on others. Krishnamurti recognized this human flaw and concluded,
"The constant assertion of belief is an indication of fear." But why
do we believe? Tertullian responded to that in his work De Carne Cristi with
Credo quia impossible, or "I believe because it is impossible." What
Tertullian means is that knowing is impossible when our perceptions are
confined so he must believe in order to continue. Like Tertullian, I have to be
content with what appears to be my reality. However, I enter an endless dilemma
when I perceive something that is unrecognizable to my beliefs, or something
that coincides with what I want to see. Hence, I begin to let my beliefs
control my vision and what I see is no longer actuality but instead what I'd
feel comfortable in observing. Ralph Waldo Emerson exclaimed the very thought
when he said, "People see what they are only prepared to see." I
share the belief with Emerson that it is significant to know and attempt to not
believe. Ironically, Emerson also stated "I hate quotations. Tell me what
you know." So I shall.
Fortunately, I have been blessed with a walking, living, example of
conditioning (other than myself); my one and a half-year-old little brother,
Zachary. Recently, he became violently ill with a form of the flu. Unfortunate
for him, he regurgitated most foods due to their incompatibility with the virus
in his stomach. Zack loved foods such as yogurt and eggs, but when he was fed
them when it was not known he was sick and his stomach disposed of them orally,
a bad connotation was then associated with those food products and Zack will no
longer eat them. He has the belief that they will make him vomit and views the
food as "bad." As sad as it may seem, that is everyday conditioning
that we are exposed to. With the pragmatic process of "Seeing conditions
what we believe [and] believing conditions what we see" coded into my
brain, I strive to know and not believe in order to decrease my perceptive
uncertainty. I will always strive for knowledge and not belief as I live by the
words of Socrates as quoted by Plato in his Apology; "The unexamined life
is not worth living."