Why Individuals' Perceptions Change

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An individual’s imagination of an object or place can change how they perceive the world around them. Karen Armstrong in her essay “Homo Religiosus” talks about how “a poem, a play, or indeed, a great painting has the power to change our perception in ways that we may not be able to explain logically but that seem incontestably true” (25), which is implying that it is definitely possible to change our false, impractical perceptions into accurate, practical perceptions. Daniel Gilbert extends on this idea by discussing how in order for positive views to actually be valid “they must be based on facts that we believe we have come upon honestly” (135). To what extent does an individual need to experience various situations in order to gain several perspectives of one thing? To what extent do we need to change in order to obtain a different perspective compared to someone else? An individual’s outcome from various events in their life causes them to create either an optimistic or pessimistic response to the event “by unconsciously cooking the facts and then consciously consuming them” (135). In the essays “Homo Religiosus” by Karen Armstrong and “Immune to Reality” by Daniel Gilbert, both authors discuss how change in an individual’s life by means of the psychological immune system, their emotions, and their interpretations can provide them with different perceptions which is beneficial to having an abundance of knowledge. Having an abundance of knowledge that provides people with different perspectives can also cause a person to produce many different emotions. Emotions play an important role in how perception is viewed by individuals. How we as individuals perceive an event plays a role in how we let that event trigger a negative or... ... middle of paper ... ...rson’s emotions allows them to be optimistic or pessimistic about various experiences they may have to deal with. “People are not aware of the fact that their defenses are more likely to be triggered by intense rather than mild suffering, thus they mispredict their own emotional reactions” (Gilbert 140) to different experiences which causes them to fail to create better responses to a similar situation in the future. An individual has not only the ability to perceive the world but also the ability to alter their perception of it. Simply put an individual can change situations and outcomes by the way in which they look at them. Works Cited Armstrong, Karen. "Homo Religiosus." The New Humanities Reader. 4th ed., eds. Richard E. Miller and Kurt Spellmeyer. Boston: Wadsworth, 2012. 22-38. Print. Gilbert, Daniel. “Immune to Reality.” Miller and Spellmeyer 132-150.

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