coffee Convos

“Is perception reality?”

This is the question that has been on my mind for the past week.

Regardless of how many angles I look at this statement, I’ve come to the conclusion that perception is not reality.

Here’s why:

1: Define Perception

The definition of what perception is will be biased.

There are many reasons why perception is biased, and to put it in layman’s terms (that will still confuse me at times) is because we all view the world in many different ways.

One example would be how many people perceive a sunset. Some view it as a beautiful thing, whereas others simply use the sunset as a guide to time and think nothing of its beauty.

2: Define Reality

To continue analyzing this statement, I’ve concluded that many view reality with a strong bias.

Some view it as “If we think positively, then our lives will become positive,” while others simply view reality as a game (i.e., a chessboard). This is where everything is moved strategically to see who you can make the universe work for you.

Of course, there are other ways people view perception and reality, but for this post, we will focus on the most obvious reasons.

3: Our five sense

Sight, Smell, Sound, Touch, and Taste are all contributing factors to how biased we are to our reality and how it affects our perception of the world.

One prominent example is when we get into an argument with someone: all of a sudden, all their actions will reflect their current attitude from the argument. We will walk on eggshells around that person, or simply ignore the person until we deem they are in a better mood for conversation.

Many will agree that perception is reality because, in that moment, what we view is our reality. But if we were to look at everything from a logical point of view, without the biases, we would all be lawyers and judges.

Therefore, it is simply unlikely to separate feelings from the situation at times.

So, is perception reality? No.

Perception is not reality because of the many biased factors that contribute to our analysis and evaluation of a situation, which hinder us from drawing a sound conclusion.

I believe this is how we tend to overthink: we don’t always trust our perception. After all, a story has three sides to it.

So, what do you think? Is perception reality?

We’ll talk soon,

Sweet T.