Perceptions.

A lot depends on how we perceive the world. Our reaction to anything is basically a reflection of our perception. As C.S. Lewis says, what we see or what we hear depends on what sort of person we are. Hence our perception of others is in fact a reflection of our own self.

We never like or hate something or someone. We create an image of that person or that thing in our mind and like or hate that image. Now take example of Akbar, the Mughal Emperor. Talk of Deen-e-Ilaahi or the lore of Jodha-Akbar (controversial?? ) and you can imagine Akbar as a hero, a protagonist. Now remember the Akbar-Birbal stories we have read in childhood. What is the image of Akbar now? Most probably he will appear as an old man who is quite a simpleton. Now remember the epic cinema Mughal-e-Azam.  Hows the image now? Is it a stubborn, ruthless villain who disapproves of Saleem and Anarkali’s love? So we basically know three different Akbars. A hero, a neutral person and a villain. Why? Because as per the given context, we perceive him differently, and contrastingly.

Our perception is a function of the information we have, our ability to analyze and utilize it and our past experiences, biases and prejudices which impact the images in our mind. Every person has a mental framework of past experiences in which we try to fit in the information obtained using our analytical skills. This happens subconsciously most of the times. Wrong perceptions can therefore be created because of a problem in any of these three attributes.

There exists an intricate link between perceptions and rationality. A more rational mind tries to filter out only correct information, uses analytical skills sharply and minimizes the prejudices. Thus, the real issue is not perception, but how personal the perception is. Our perceptions are always influenced by external factors. These biases come mainly from the cultural underpinnings. The perceptions are created and distorted in a quite strange way!

    Most of our mistakes are in fact mistakes of perception. This is especially true for errors in interpersonal relations. We handle our emotions within the frame of our perceptions.  The ability to handle our emotions is nothing but Emotional Intelligence. What complicates the discourse is the fact that emotions are often registered as patterns. And a slight change in perception can cause huge repercussions on the patterns of emotions.

    We need to understand that the perceived world is different from real world. This alters human actions significantly. In Human Geography, there is a classic case of a horse-rider who rides over a huge expanse of snow only to know later that it was a frozen river. He would have not crossed it had he known the truth. But this is how perception works. Many feats of bravery have been performed under a wrong perception.

It is said that there are three truths- your truth, my truth and the real truth. Because of perceptions, we try to identify with one truth somewhere between this continuum. Its upto us that how rationally we perceive the world and then react accordingly.

     “The world isn't just the way it is. It is how we understand it. And in understanding something, we bring something to it. Doesn't that make life a story? You must take life the way it comes at you and make the best of it.” ~ Yann Martel, Life of Pi.