GERARDO PEREZ-GARCIA
20120415
Y33-41-8925
DEP2000 REACTION PAPER

WHAT IS PERCEPTION?

Perception is our sensory experience of the world around us and involves both the recognition of environmental stimuli and actions in response to these stimuli. Through the perceptual process, we gain information about properties and elements of the environment that are critical to our survival. Perception not only creates our experience of the world around us; it allows us to act within our environment. Perception includes the five senses; touch, sight, taste smell and taste. It also includes what is known as proprioception, a set of senses involving the ability to detect changes in body positions and movements. It also involves the cognitive processes required to process information, such as recognizing the face of a friend or detecting a familiar scent. When it comes down to our understanding of the world it is ultimately the result of our sensual means of perception. In other terms, can we really trust the truth, or anything that we know of scientifically? What does it mean to know something is true and also why it is important to distinguish between what you know and do not or cannot know? It is very difficult to be able to believe everything you hear, unless you experience it for yourself. Let’s say that perception is like viewing through goggles. If the tint of the goggles is green, the world appears green; if it’s black the world too becomes black. You want to see poverty, you can. You want to see or feel corruption, and you can get that. If you want to see happiness you can see that as well. Throughout the thousands of years, people’s opinions of perception have changed dramatically. The following examples are a good way of looking at how it can only be believed if you have evidence, or how perception has changed dramatically throughout the years. Life is all in the matter of how each individual perceives it. As mentioned above, may be different for each person, depending on his or her lifestyle. It is the substantiality of opinion of what you believe is true. At one point in time, people didn’t require evidence in order to consider its’ validity. The world was naive, and didn’t have the knowledge it does today. Today’s society requires proof in order to conceive that something is true. Perhaps if someone told you that, pigs could fly, would you be gullible enough to assume it? Or would you need solid evidence in order to believe that fact? Perception is also determined by theories throughout life. Plato, who is a Greek philosopher, discusses theories of knowledge throughout his famous dialogue, The Theaetetus. He researched many different ways of learning and attempts to define knowledge and perception. This is the beginning of how perception can be defined and looked upon. While researching perception, a perfect example would be the Salem witch trials. Throughout history, millions of women have been scorned, accused, arrested, tortured, put to trial, and persecuted as witches. Although before the Salem witch trials, they were originally created in Europe. These began in the 1450s, whereas the Salem trials didn’t start until the late 1600s. Regardless people were intimidated and scared by witches. They feared that it would overthrow Christianity. With much fear in mind, the Catholic Church was implemented. They began to take action upon their situation, and start crucifying any person that was accused of witchcraft. In today’s society accusing someone of witchcraft would be absolute madness. Back then they didn’t know any better. They believed that killing an individual that possessed magic was ultimately the best idea out there. For example, if a woman was accused of witchcraft, they may drown her. If she was a witch, she would perform magic and save herself. If not, she would die an innocent victim. After thousands upon thousands of people dying, wouldn’t they realize that witchcraft didn’t exist? My point is that it all comes back to perception and understanding of life. If someone tells you that the sky is blue, would you believe him or her? Of course not, because you would have to witness it for yourself. How can you automatically assume someone is a witch without seeing evidence? Consider a time in history before Christopher Columbus discovered America. For many years people believed that the world had no movement, and everything was geocentric. It is understandable why people would assume this. You couldn’t feel the world moving, and you can’t visually see anything revolving around the earth. Therefore the world was thought to be flat. It was believed that travel was a dangerous thing. If one ventured too far, one would drop off the edge of the world. Columbus discovered the world was not flat but round. In astronomy, the geocentric model of the universe is the theory that the earth is at the center of the universe and the sun and other celestial objects go around it. Primitive ideas about the figure of the earth, still found in young children, hold the earth to be flat and the heavens a physical dome spanning over it. Lunar eclipses, e.g., always have a circular edge of approx. three times the radius of the lunar disc, as these always happen when the earth is between Sun and Moon, it suggests that the object casting the shadow is the earth and must be spherical (and four times the size of the Moon, the lunar and solar discs being the same size). Also an astronomical event like a lunar eclipse which happened high in the sky in one end of the Mediterranean World, was close to the horizon in the other end, again suggesting curvature of the earth's surface. A paradigm shift occurred. The world did not change, perception did. Change perception and everything else changes too.