IB TOK Essay on Perception
When we look at something, are we all seeing the same thing?
Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. It is the way in which something is regarded and understood. Metaphysicians, Logicians, Political and Social philosophers have thought about perception since the beginning of history. We all perceive; our sensual organs discern information the way they are designed to however, do we see differently because we all interpret what we see differently?
One of the major senses is sight. This sense allows us to see by simply reflecting light onto one of our organs. The complex part however is the decoding of the information that is reflected. Our minds interpret the light that is reflected and turn it into information for us to sense our environment. It can be argued that the processed information is not always true. One example of this idea of flawed information would be the Rubin’s Vase form, which was developed by Edgar Rubin, a Danish psychologist. The visual effect generally presents the viewer with two shape interpretations, each of which is consistent with the image. The viewer is meant to see two images; one being two humans facing each other and the other is a vase. This form is an illusion and is created by the mind. The fact that there are two images seen to us does not mean that one of them has to be wrong. There is no wrong or right, it is just how our brains interpret the information.
It can be considered that these interpretations are affected by our lifestyles and societies. Interpretation of the same image also changes from person to person. If looked on a bigger scale, these changes are affected from differences in cultures and paradigms. Color is also a major variable in testing perception after illusions. Do we see colors differently? One of BBC’s most fascinating shows: “Do You See What I See” explores this question. In the English language, there are distinct words to describe specific
Perception is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. It is the way in which something is regarded and understood. Metaphysicians, Logicians, Political and Social philosophers have thought about perception since the beginning of history. We all perceive; our sensual organs discern information the way they are designed to however, do we see differently because we all interpret what we see differently?
One of the major senses is sight. This sense allows us to see by simply reflecting light onto one of our organs. The complex part however is the decoding of the information that is reflected. Our minds interpret the light that is reflected and turn it into information for us to sense our environment. It can be argued that the processed information is not always true. One example of this idea of flawed information would be the Rubin’s Vase form, which was developed by Edgar Rubin, a Danish psychologist. The visual effect generally presents the viewer with two shape interpretations, each of which is consistent with the image. The viewer is meant to see two images; one being two humans facing each other and the other is a vase. This form is an illusion and is created by the mind. The fact that there are two images seen to us does not mean that one of them has to be wrong. There is no wrong or right, it is just how our brains interpret the information.
It can be considered that these interpretations are affected by our lifestyles and societies. Interpretation of the same image also changes from person to person. If looked on a bigger scale, these changes are affected from differences in cultures and paradigms. Color is also a major variable in testing perception after illusions. Do we see colors differently? One of BBC’s most fascinating shows: “Do You See What I See” explores this question. In the English language, there are distinct words to describe specific