sense perception

Sense Perception

Question

Which person is more likely to see the Moon as it really is?

A person looking at the Moon from Earth?orAn astronaut looking at the Moon while standing on it?

Question

Which person is more likely to see the Earth as it really is?

A person standing on the surface of the Earth?orAn astronaut looking at Earth from the Moon?

I call it as I see it

The Snapshot model of perception

Common sense realism

•My senses capture information and my brain records it.

•And my memory recalls it when requested.

Snapshot

•Colours, smells, objects exist

•Being observed does not change them

Empiricism – all knowledge is based on perception

Scientific method uses empirical observation

The eye sucks

Image is upside down

Nearly colour blind

Terrible depth of field

It jumps & refocuses several times a second

It should look like a crappy home video!

Why aren’t we living in a crappy home video?

Sensation – provided by the world via senses

Interpretation – provided by our brains

We interpret data depending on the context, what we already know, our assumptions, our biology...

…data, information, knowledge…

…we tend to simplify the data stream and group it according to patterns we already recognise

Optical illusions - pre-existing knowledge

Theory of Knowledge for the IB DiplomaRichard van de Lagemaat

Optical illusions – background/forground

Optical illusions – visual grouping

Optical illusions – expectations

Perception is constructed

Zen saying:

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

Zennoying

"Two monks were arguing about the temple flag waving in the wind. One said, "The flag moves." The other said, "The wind moves." They argued back and forth but could not agree.The Sixth Ancestor said, "Gentlemen! It is not the wind that moves; it is not the flag that moves; it is your mind that moves." The two monks were struck with awe."- The Mumonkan Case 29, translation by Robert Aitken

Zen saying:

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

What if I steal your fries and you don’t see it?

Play video

Perception is attention dependant

Changes that affectmeaning are more likelyto be noticed

We notice what mattersto us.

Perception is culturally constructed

Gestalt

We simplify to what’s important

We percieve whole configurations

We put it in to context


Context

Would the world’s greatest violinist busk in a subway?

Joshua Bell


The Washington Post1,097 people walked byhardly anyone stoppedOne man listened for a few minutes a couple of kids staredand one woman recognized him

“Pearls before Breakfast”The Washington post, 2007


Perception

Language helps catagorise & communicate-Can we understand something without a word for it?e.g. cancer

Emotions help make value judgements- Emotions improve memory

Reason helps order & link relationships - Cause & effect


So if meaning is culturally constructed, where does that leave us?

Science

Art HistoryMaths

sense perception

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