On perception and perspective: Tell me, what’s relevant to you?

         What’s relevant right now? Although you may not notice right away, that question ends up defining what you see and how you see it. Alexandra Horowitz states in her book, On Looking: Eleven Walks With Expert Eyes, that objects compete with each other for your attention, and “attention is an intentional, unapologetic discriminator” that “asks what is relevant right now, and gears up to notice only that”. This where perception and perspective—two sides of the same coin—unite. They decide what you pay attention to.

Image retrieved from: 
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15803166-on-looking

           Both concepts give a name to the ability we have to see and/or understand things. Perception refers more to the physical process that takes place in your brain to understand something that has been seen. Perspective, on the other hand, is better tied to what you understand a certain thing to be and why you understand it that way. Perspective, then, is more dependent than perception on an individual’s background which, in turn, determines what’s relevant to us.

             In the social sciences, the process of perception is explained in a straightforward—rather scientific—manner. First, the eye captures an object, and the brain receives the stimulus or image. Then, it picks that image apart and takes only the necessary things it needs to associate what was seen with concepts it already knows. Once the brain finds what concept the image clicks with, the process of perception is complete. All of this happens within a matter of seconds; you don’t even notice it happens. For example, you see a clear liquid inside a clear plastic bottle with a label that reads “Dasani”, and you immediately think it’s water. Your brain takes only the aspects of that image it needs (the Dasani label, the plastic bottle, and the clear liquid) and pairs them as a whole with existing concepts in your brain; in this case, water. The clear liquid could, perhaps, be rum.

            We perceive only what we want and see it based on our own perspective—the part of that process that is subject to our personal background. For example, my perception and perspective on things is defined by who I am. I, among other things, am honest and kind hearted. Therefore, I always perceive people to be this way as well. I think and see the best in people when I first meet them. However, experience has taught me that this isn’t always the case; people often lie and aren’t kind hearted. This also influences my perspective because experiences also form part of your background; experiences, as I’ve always believed, shape the person you are. Now I see the good in people, but am also aware that maybe they aren’t honest or kind hearted. (If you would lie to know more about me, I invite you to visit my post on my internal and external journey).

            Our personal background decides what is relevant to us. We see what we want to see and that is what we know. Therefore, what is relevant to you will ultimately influence your perception and perspective. Now tell me, what’s relevant to you? Because, whatever it is, it’ll define your perspective of the world and what you see.