Altered Perceptions

460 words – A two minute read…

We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are...Anais Nin…

What if I told you that your core beliefs may be based on bad information. Questionable facts that may not be true at all? This is not to say they we have been purposely mislead or lied to. After all, most of our fundamental beliefs are based on information gleaned from personal observation and experience. However, research has uncovered that there is a good chance that everything we think that we observe may be an illusion to some degree.

Studies originally done in the late 1800’s explored how the brain processes what the eye sees and found that the human eye is a very imperfect optical instrument. Researchers found that what we actually see is incomplete and needs to be augmented by supporting information already stored in our brain to complete the picture. As this process is automatic, the completed vision is accepted as our immediate reality. Because of this, we tend to perceive reality as being more similar to what we expect than it really is. Basically we are creating illusions that we believe to be real.

The eye/brain studies proposed that “the brain is a probabilistic machine that fills in the gaps of knowledge with information based on our personal beliefs.” Because “we live in an uncertain world which is often ambiguous and noisy coupled with our brains limited sensory receptors, often multiple interpretations of an event is possible.” In this context, the best our brain can do is guess what is true and what is the best action to take.

In modern science we discuss this phenomena as “brain filters”. As our senses provide literally millions of inputs, we would be overwhelmed without the brains ability to reduce the information to a manageable amount. Estimates vary but it seems that we can only process around 30 bits of information per second. As well, most of the information that makes it through the filters is for survival… the information required to keep us from stepping in front of a speeding truck at an intersection. However, one point that researchers agree on is that everyone’s brain filters are unique to them in that they are coloured by personal experiences and DNA. This is why eye witness testimony is so unreliable… visual inputs are filtered through the individual’s personal beliefs and knowledge before becoming their reality. A flawed system at best, but because it happens automatically, be believe what we see.

So… even if you see it with your own eyes, it may not be true.