vesterberg.se

One important thing to remember about our mind is that it interprets and colours our perception of the world. We might think that our inner world is a representation of what is out there, that our senses are like a camera displaying images and this is what we experience. But that’s not the case. Science have shown how our perception is deeply coloured by our emotions and preconceptions. This colouring and interpretation happens before we are consciously aware of it. The pathway of a visual image for example goes through parts of the brain that handles emotions and the ability to form concepts.

You might have heard of the experiments when people watch neutral images that are mixed with images with strong emotional content for a very short period of time. This is called subliminal emotional stimulus. The observer is not aware of the mixed-in picture, but they react to it subconsciously. If he afterwards tries to draw what he saw, the mood of his drawing is affected by the mixed-in picture.

You might also have seen those visual illusions where several images are hidden in a single picture. While watching them, our mind subconsciously tries to interpret and fill in what is missing and suddenly we see the image. The mind flips back and forth between possible interpretations.

In the picture to the right, even though we know that the pillars are equal in size, we strongly feel like the rightmost pillar is the longest. Our brain interprets the lines as parallel lines going away in distance from us instead of converging lines on a flat sheet of paper. This is mostly a learned and a cultural behaviour.

Our mind is creating an inner world that is a mix of what is out there and our own ideas and emotions that seem fitting. This happen more rapidly that we can consciously notice. Our mind strives to interpret what we perceive in familiar terms for us to make us feel safe. More often than we realize we see what we expect to see and the unexpected pass unnoticed.

We need to be aware of this behaviour of the mind. When we try to learn new things, this filter is active. When we try to communicate, the difference in interpretations easily leads to misunderstandings. If we are asked to describe facts about an event we often jump to interpretations quickly..

It is quite possible to learn to know your own perception and conceptualization process and recognize more of the “raw” data that comes from your senses. You can train yourself to separate observation from interpretation. You can make regular reflections a frequent habit. Probably you have to slow down your life also.

We live in an information age in which conceptualization is a prominent ingredient and it is deeply rooted. Our lives are crammed with activities and we are easily fooled by mainstream messages. We follow our common “culture” almost blindly. Let’s assume responsibility of our minds and actions.

Other posts about this sbuject you might want to read:
Humanness and conversation
Your thoughts are not you