Repetition And Reality: The Case Of Contrast Defenses Essay

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Is a person’s perception truly reality? According to Plato, a philosopher who is considered the most important figure in the development of philosophy and founder of the Academy in Athens and writer of “Allegory of the Cave” states that there is fear of change in the face of enlightenment and that there is a method in order achieve a sense of knowledge. People are blind by their own perception of reality. Personal experiences affect a person’s perception, and determine a person’s reaction to a situation. Some people have a narrow perception of reality, and are easily satisfied with only receiving basic, public education. Because people refuse to consider other perspectives, they remain imprisoned in their limited understanding of how the world …show more content…

Everything in the world is a perception of some sort because the person who designed the object created it through their eyes. Think of life as being viewed through a camera lens, the events that are brought to focus are filtered and interpreted through thoughts, beliefs and experiences that have occurred over the course of a person’s life. The way a person perceives an object, or situation depends on how a person was raised or taught how to do something. Joseph Fernando, author of “Repetition and Reality: The Case of Contrast Defenses” addresses that when a thought or memory has strong feelings attached, a person generally has a contrast reaction, the reaction may be happy or sad depending on the individual’s past experiences of a certain situation (Fernando 282-283). For example, if a person was cheated on in a relationship that person will have trouble trusting someone for the rest of their life. That individual will perceive people as hurtful and that perception will cause them to not live their life to the fullest and their view of reality will be altered. However, one who has not experienced this type of heartbreak will not perceive people in that way and will more than likely be adventurous because they have not endured the pain of being betrayed by someone they cared about.
Some people have a narrow perception of reality, and are easily satisfied with only receiving basic public education. In today’s world education is the great equalizer among all people. In Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” a person can simply start out with nothing and with help of the enlightened (education) be given the opportunity to be successful and turn their life

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