Perception And Sense Perception

1147 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: influence of media on public perception

Sense perception is one of our ways of knowing which is critical to our understanding of the world around us. The above quote by William Blake emphasizes how our perception can be easily altered and unclear to us. Blake’s comment was popular in his day and in ours, giving its name to one of the most celebrated rock groups in the world, The Doors. This prescribed title involves what we consider to be the “truth” and our five windows to the world, sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing inform us constantly about our environment and our accurate perceptions of it. One of the knowledge issues of this prompt is whether or not we can assume everyone has the same concept of “truth”. For the purposes of this paper we will focus on truth being “reality” and what actually exists in our external worlds.
It has been observed and measured by the natural sciences that our end- organs (ears, nose, tongue, eyes, and neuron-receptors) are at best imprecise links to the outside world. This can be demonstrated by our limited efficiency using sight alone. It has been recorded that of the total light spectrum from micro waves to macro waves, humans can only detect a narrow band of waves in the mid region known to be the color spectrum. This small section of total light waves constitutes only 10% of the broader expanse of waves. Assuming that human beings are seeing only this limited amount of reflected light from objects and must make inferences about the outer world, it can be logically stated that our input of information about that world is truly incomplete.
This can be further illustrated by our inability to detect radio waves which are passing through our bodies and homes continuously. A radio receptor found in the simplest radio devices, have...

... middle of paper ...

...yet the truth is that it all in the end was a lie to merely cheat us out of our money. This form of subterfuge is ancient and goes back to the beginnings of time when people’s greed and their creativity combined to mislead others for an evil purpose. Today the commercial, consumer mentality is being bombarded with advertisements of products which claim to have certain properties. We must use good judgment in finding the truth in all of these created perceptions.
In conclusion, our sensory perception is our only input to external worlds which we must attempt to thrive in successfully. Understanding that our five senses are critical to this, we must acknowledge misconceptions and untruths are frequently made. In a world of Photoshop and Reality TV which in essence is not real, it is our duty to ourselves to seek out the “truth” as best we can.

Bibliography

Show More
Related

  • Blindsight and Qualities of Visual Perception

    2336 Words  | 5 Pages

    ABSTRACT: The aim of this paper is to defend a broad concept of visual perception, according to which it is a sufficient condition for visual perception that subjects receive visual information in a way which enables them to give reliably correct answers about the objects presented to them. According to this view, blindsight, non-epistemic seeing, and conscious visual experience count as proper types of visual perception. This leads to two consequences concerning the role of the phenomenal qualities of visual experiences. First, phenomenal qualities are not necessary in order to see something, because in the case of blindsight, subjects can see objects without experiences phenomenal qualities. Second, they cannot be intentional properties, since they are not essential properties of visual experiences, and because the content of visual experiences cannot be constituted by contingent properties.

    Read More

  • Refuting Objections to Direct Realism

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    Realism is the form of perception in which it is believed that there is an external world outside of our own minds. It is the belief that regardless of what we may belief is true of false, the external world is independent of these beliefs. There are two forms of realism which are direct and indirect. In this essay I will argue that direct realism is a more plausible theory of perception than indirect realism by refuting the main arguments against direct realism. I will begin by briefly describing direct and indirect realism and follow with countering two of the main arguments indirect realists use against direct realists.

    Read More

  • Descartes Knowledge

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    through our senses is actually an accurate interpretation of reality. After we’ve established that our senses aren’t

    Read More

  • Berkeley's Water Experiment

    4052 Words  | 9 Pages

    For example, he argues, that the experience of temperature can be understood with the analogy of the experience of pain, and just as the pain is not 'in the needle', so the warmth I feel is not in the fire. (2) He then argues in a similar vein that visual experience is reducible to collections of colour sensations because light passes into the eye ball and strikes the retina, in much the same way that a sharp object striking the skin produces a sensation of pain, such as a sensation of blue or red. (3) The sensation being the effect of the physical and chemical properties of the world on the sense organs and is as distinct from the world as photographic images are from the objects which cause them.

    Read More

  • Evaluating the role, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of Sense Perception and Intuition in Dan Ariely’s TED talk, “Are we in control of our...

    777 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sense Perception is a way of knowing in which a person can acquire knowledge using their five senses - taste, touch, sight, sound and smell. Sense perception is an important in our understanding of the world, and is a source of much of the pleasure in our lives. But, can we trust our senses to give us the truth? This may come out as an odd question to many because according to experience and history it is known that humans greatly rely on sense perception as a means of survival. However, like all ways of knowing, sense perception has its weakness; our senses can easily be deceived. In his TED Talk, “Are we in control of our decisions?” behavioral economist Dan Ariely uses examples and optical illusions to demonstrate the roles, strengths and limitations of sense perception as a way of knowing.

    Read More

  • Perception Of Perception

    1120 Words  | 3 Pages

    The way one views the world around them is a reflection of themselves, as Anais nin clearly stated, “ We see things not as they are but as we are.” perception, the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses, is a key component to how one lives their life. It is the driving force behind one's reaction to the world around them. Perception has a large influence on how things are interpreted such as emotions and meanings as well as making inferences about others. Perception itself can be influenced by others in one's community or the environment. The way one perceives or is being perceived has an effect on a person's life including one's needs, desires, personality, and experiences.

    Read More

  • Sensation Chapter 5 Summary

    809 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thus through chapter five and six I learned that sensation and perception are two factors that are used in everyday life and that carry an important role in our lives.

    Read More

  • ESP - Extra Sensory Perception

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    The phenomenon of ESP transcends our knowledge of the human senses. In fact, its definition is, essentially, the ability to perceive accurately something the five senses cannot detect. (4) We do not, after all, have eyes in the backs of our heads. We cannot see through solid piled-up cards to count them (especially if we can't count...

    Read More

  • Witness

    806 Words  | 2 Pages

    When one sense is diminished, another is magnified, but can it ever truly be compensated? In some instances, yes however, when addressing the ability to communicate, there are two senses, that when absent hinders the communication process: sight and touch. Communication is more than just words. In an effort to explore this idea further, we will look at the movie “Witness”.

    Read More

  • Perception And Perception Of Perception

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    Everyday different stimuli around us will be stimulating our sense organs. Many of these stimuli are received by our sense organs and are converted into sensations.These sensations are transmitted to the concerned parts of brain.In turn the brain will interpret these sensations. It is only after such interpretation we understand what the stimulus is.

    Read More

  • Sison's Argumentative Analysis

    1137 Words  | 3 Pages

    As human beings, we obtain knowledge through multiple mediums, but the most important is our senses. Personally, the senses have contributed greatly to how I acquire knowledge because they allow for me to experience everything first-hand. The senses include: hearing, touch, taste, sight, and smell. The senses use different “electrical nerve pulses” or “sensory organs” to interpret information. (Pediaopolis). As humans we have the ability to make “contextual judgments without being consciously aware of it.” (Lagemaat). This means that humans can draw conclusions subconsciously, which can greatly influence how an individual views certain scenarios around them. However, this can cause someone to interpret something incorrectly, which can lead

    Read More

  • Sensation And Senception: The Process Of Sensation And Perception

    742 Words  | 2 Pages

    By absorbing information and convert them into a meaningful information, that could help us to understand the life and make good and wise decisions. There is minimal amount of stimulations have to occur, so our organ can detect these stimuluses and that is the absolute threshold, which is basically means that you will not be able to smell something really far from you, unless that thing hit the minimal amount of stimulation and your nose can smell it now. The lack or the loss of one or more sense would make a big gap in how we experience things around us and a perception failure will make it harder to understand the full image of what is going on around us and it will cause an inability to respond to a current situation. For example, if someone is blind, it will be hard for the brain to get the full image and to understand it in order to make a wise decision. But amazingly our brain relays on other sensory organs to get the information that is needed to get a full image in order to survive. I have a friend who was blind since he was two years old, when I asked him how do you see or how do you imagine the chair, he described the chair exactly as we see it, but with no color. His brain works with the lack of visual information as a way to relay on other sensory organs to achieve the same results that we can see and he cannot. It does not mean

    Read More

  • The Processes of Visual Perception and Visual Sensation

    1240 Words  | 3 Pages

    Visual perception and visual sensation are both interactive processes, although there is a significant difference between the two processes. Sensation is defined as the stimulation of sense organs Visual sensation is a physiological process which means that it is the same for everyone. We absorb energy such as electro magnetic energy (light) or sound waves by sensory organs such as eyes. This energy is then transduced into electro chemical energy by the cones and rods (receptor cells) in the retina. There are four main stages of sensation. Sensation involves detection of stimuli incoming from the surrounding world, registering of the stimulus by the receptor cells, transduction or changing of the stimulus energy to an electric nerve impulse, and then finally the transmission of that electrical impulse into the brain. Our brain then perceives what the information is. Hence perception is defined as the selection, organisation and interpretation of that sensory input.

    Read More

  • Perception Essay

    1376 Words  | 3 Pages

    The way that each individual interprets, retrieves, and responds to the information in the world that surrounds you is known as perception. It is a personal way of creating opinions about others and ourselves in everyday life and being able to recognize it under various conditions. Each person’s perceptions are used as a kind of filter that every piece of information has to pass through before it determines the effect that it has or will have on the person from the stimulus. It is convincing to believe that we create multiple perceptions about different situations and objects each day. Perceptions reflect our opinions in many ways. The quality of a person’s perceptions is very important and can affect the response that is given through different situations. Perception is often deceived as reality. “Through perception, people process information inputs into responses involving feelings and action.” (Schermerhorn, et al.; p. 3). Perception can be influenced by a person’s personality, values, or experiences which, in turn, can play little role in reality. People make sense of the world that they perceive because the visual system makes practical explanations of the information that the eyes pick up.

    Read More

  • Human Senception: The Effects Of Light On Human Perception

    1196 Words  | 3 Pages

    Our perception of the world is dependent on our senses and response to stimulus. Sensation is the process of absorbing energy from a physical stimulus in the environment and converting this energy into neural impulses and sending them to the brain. The brain then interprets and organises this sensory information resulting in our subjective conscious experience or perception. (Lefton & Brannon 2003) The five human sensory organs receive the stimulus which determines our perception. Arguably the most important of these senses is vision. Humans use sight to gain the most sensory information, and the sense of sight has evolved to be highly sophisticated. Importantly, vision depends on the presence of light. (Sparknotes, 2016) To study the effect of light on human perception, I conducted an exercise of watching a sunset. The following essay describes my experience of observing the sunset at St. Kilda beach on the 12th of April 2016, and an interpretation of the experience in relation to biological mechanisms.

    Read More

More about Perception And Sense Perception

Open Document