How accurate is our perception?

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Eaglerising
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How accurate is our perception?

Post by Eaglerising »

Everything we do is based upon our perceived accuracy of our perception. Seeing this caused me to wonder how can I accurately determine the accuracy of my perception? I say that because I would need something other than my perception to determine that.

Which brings up another question, can I determine the accuracy of my perception in the absence of any type of authority? I ask that question because the accuracy of my perception would be dependent upon the accuracy of the authority I used. Not only that, my perception is my authority. Needless to say, all this is very confusing to me.
Spraticus
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Spraticus »

I find the question a bit vague. Are you saying that all of our experience of the world is derived from perceptual evidence? What about ideas based on pure principal, like a large part of maths and logic. Ignoring the problem of solipsism and assuming the world and all those other people are really out there, what exactly is the problem. Different degrees of accuracy are needed for different tasks; I can walk along the street in the direction I want to go without banging into things. I can look more closely at the details of an etching, or I can use equipment like microscopes or telescopes or xray machines to see more clearly in other ways.

Or am I taking accuracy in the wrong way? Is it confirmation from other people or some other form of evidence that you need?
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-1-
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by -1- »

I fully and wholeheartedly agree with you, EagleRising.

Whether you believe your perceptions is a matter of belief. Most times, (actually, always) my perceptions are consistent, but that may change at a moment's notice.

Most people, esp. children, are not bothered by this problem. This is one of the drawbacks of philosophy: it sometimes irrefutably proves unsettling truths. Another one for many people is determinism; I'm okay with that. I'm a convergent thinker, there is stability it determinism, which I like, even at the cost or price of giving up control.

This, the Perception / Solipsism dilemma is still unsettling for me, although I learned by now to see that I have at least a fifty-fifty blind chance of being right when I accept that my sensory world is a true or close enough reflection of reality.

I think a better question would be, "why do we need to believe or why do we hope that perception is true to reality?" Indeed, what's the point in that? I ask because it's a true point, a major point, a huge point.
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Fooloso4
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Fooloso4 »

Your perception of what? An optometrist can determine the accuracy of your visual acuity under given conditions. If your vision is poor you perception of objects outside some particular range range with be poor. An audiology can check your hearing. If your hearing is poor your perception of sounds will be poor. But perception is not purely passive. There are various things that can alter how you perceive things such as context, prior experience, assumed motives, likes and dislikes, mood, attentiveness … The term is used in different ways. One’s perception might mean one’s sensory information, impression, interpretation, judgment ...
Woodart
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Woodart »

Everything is in the eye of the beholder - be it accurate or not - you are the judge, jury and executioner.
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Sy Borg
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Sy Borg »

Every life form filters reality in a way that facilitates survival. Humans as a group have used technology to learn about the material being filtered out. Hence many scientific findings seem counter-intuitive - the stuff we filter out.

For instance, we know that magnetic fields are all around us but we can't perceive them without instruments. It may have been useful at times for early humans to naturally perceive magnetic fields. However, the fact that we don't perceive them suggests that it was more useful to perceive other things, that being able to see magnetism would too often be a waste of energy or a distraction. Our researchers work to free us from this efficacious prison of our animal body but there is obviously no way of knowing what it is that one doesn't know. Like Alice, we don't know how deep the rabbit hole goes.

That's just considering our impression of the environment. Our inner workings are also mysterious to us, with our bodies humming along happily, seemingly without any of our input. The "I" sits atop this efficient biological machine like a parasitic wastrel glory-seeker, with the freeloader blithely taking all of the credit (and, admittedly, blame) for the 24/7 work of our internal colonies. Recent work into our microbiome is gradually correcting this oversight.

Another avenue of investigation is into the psyche, the suites of genetic and conditioned inclinations that make up our character and personality. We don't understand much of that which has shaped us, as it's often hidden by time and memory as well as being defined (ie. limited) by our genetic inheritance. At least in this instance we need not worry about subjectivity interfering with objectivity - perhaps.
Eaglerising
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Eaglerising »

Perception is a composite of everything you know and have experienced. It is the lens you view everything, Your perception determines what you think, comprehend and how you respond to your environment. Your perception is your authority because it determines who or what is an authority. How you view yourself is your perception of self.

-- Updated April 3rd, 2017, 10:14 pm to add the following --

Your perception is also your psychological identity because if you were to lose your memory you wouldn't know who your are.
Nick_A
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Nick_A »

Anyone who has watched David Blaine on TV knows you cannot believe your eyes. He is a master magician who can create illusions which will make you doubt your powers of perception.
Man would like to be an egoist and cannot. This is the most striking characteristic of his wretchedness and the source of his greatness." Simone Weil....Gravity and Grace
Eaglerising
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Eaglerising »

Here is a different way of looking at this. You have a view or perception of yourself. Your mother, father, sisters, bothers, relatives, friends, and co-workers all have a different view or perception of you. Are they all these perceptions accurate, or are they all inaccurate? What determines that? And is what determines that accurate?
Steve3007
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Steve3007 »

Accurate as a representation of what? Of some kind of objectively existing observer-independent reality?
Eaglerising
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Eaglerising »

It's a simple question. Is your view of yourself more accurate than someone other than you? (objectively and subjectively) What determines your answer?
Spraticus
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Spraticus »

That is not what your question says.
Steve3007
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Steve3007 »

An accurate representation of what?
Eaglerising
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Eaglerising »

You're making this far more complicated than it needs to be. You have a perception (a composite view) of yourself. This view includes your personality, physical appearance, and behavior. In other words, how do you see yourself? Likewise, others have a perception of you. I asked if those perceptions are accurate or inaccurate because either they are all accurate or none of them are accurate.

If you examine what made that decision or determination you will see that it is your perception. Now you know what we are examining.

-- Updated April 4th, 2017, 6:40 am to add the following --

If you were to describe yourself in a sentence or two, that would be your perception of yourself. If you were to describe someone else in a sentence or two, that would be your perception of them.

-- Updated April 4th, 2017, 6:54 am to add the following --

You have an opinion, view or perception of Donald Trump. Is your opinion, view or perception the same as every one's? Likewise, Donald Trump has opinion, view, or perception of himself which is different then yours and others. Is your opinion more accurate then Trump's or someone else? What determined that?
Spraticus
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Re: How accurate is our perception?

Post by Spraticus »

Eaglerising wrote:Everything we do is based upon our perceived accuracy of our perception. Seeing this caused me to wonder how can I accurately determine the accuracy of my perception? I say that because I would need something other than my perception to determine that.

Which brings up another question, can I determine the accuracy of my perception in the absence of any type of authority? I ask that question because the accuracy of my perception would be dependent upon the accuracy of the authority I used. Not only that, my perception is my authority. Needless to say, all this is very confusing to me.

Just in case you forgot, Eaglerising, this is what you actually posted. There is no mention of ones' perception of oneself.

There have been some studies on the accuracy of self perceived personality compared to personality as measured by standard tests but I can't for the moment think where or who.
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