Perception vs. Reality

Have you ever laid down after a night of heavy drinking and as you drift off to sleep you feel the whole world spinning? Me neither. I only drink in moderation. Trust me.

But, that experience is an obvious example where our perception is different from reality.

No matter how much we feel that the bed is spinning, in reality, the bed is not spinning. Your bed is perfectly static, you’re just an idiot who drank too much.

With this idea in mind where else in our life is our perception deviated from reality? Where does what we feel differ from the truth?

The simple answer is that our perception is different from reality in many cases. Humans are unaware sponges. We unknowingly collect experiences, beliefs, habits, and biases which we carry around like pieces of toilet paper stuck to our shoes as we leave the bathroom. Everything we see is seen through lenses based on our perceived reality. That time in t-ball where you swung the bat too hard, spun around, fell on your butt, and got laughed at by the entire ballpark is the reason that you are self-conscious about your hair being imperfect, you just don’t know that. The mosaic of your life shapes your reality.

Beautiful. Poetic. Amazing. So, what?

Why does this matter?

Here is why:

The world we live in is complex. Understanding that each person has a unique, rational perspective can help to explain why you perceive some people as irrational.

For example, people who lived through the Great Depression and experienced extreme food insecurity will not allow others to waste food. For them, food never goes in the trash, you put it in a to-go container and eat it later. It may have been nearly 100 years since the Great Depression but that is still the way they live. Now compare that to the average person born in a developed country in the 21st century. The idea of food insecurity seems so far off that they wouldn’t think twice when throwing food in the trash.

Get out of your own head and understand that we all view things differently, don’t be intellectually lazy and write someone off as an “idiot” when they do something that you view as irrational. Humans generally try to act rationally. Try to understand why they are acting in a way they view as rational. They may still be an idiot, but at least do the work to understand their mindset.