Perception: The Roadblock To Logic And Critical Thinking By Dorraine Fisher
I’m out to prove that logic and critical thinking are the biggest ruses ever perpetuated onto the human race. Or at least to make people think about them a little bit deeper and question what these terms are really suggesting. Until we all turn into Vulcans like Mr. Spock from Star Trek and can stoically and methodically analyze our own thoughts, we need to scrap these ideas entirely.
According to Merriam-Webster, logic is a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration: the science of the formal principles of reasoning.
I’ve always found this definition troublesome because it doesn’t clarify where these “formal principles of reasoning” come from. It doesn’t allow for the inevitable personal perceptions of the one who is attempting to be “reasonable.” Every single person you talk to believes they’re being reasonable or logical, but it’s based on their own perceptions of what reasonable and logical mean to them personally. And it’s based on their personal perceptions of the subject they’re attempting to be logical about.
Around The Campfire - The Paranormal World & How Your Mind Plays Tricks (Ep8)
Welcome to episode 8 of Around the Campfire. It's been kind of a long while since our last episode but after watching this one, I think you will find it worth the wait. You know the human mind is a fascinating thing. It can do things that we just don't understand or even realize. Dorraine lists 5 quirks of the human brain that can mess with our perception.
Around the Campfire - Can we really Believe Our Eyes?
When we see something, can we really trust our eyes to tell us the truth? More importantly, do our eyes tell us something that can be interpreted exactly the same by everyone?
This is a big problem in cryptid and paranormal research as well as every disagreement known to humankind. Everyone has a different view. Why is that?
I've asked a few people to
do this and the answers are different. Some people see a pair of
headlights shining in the dark. Others see a pair of female breasts.
So, now, while you're
rolling on the floor laughing, it DOES actually bring up a very valid
point that applies to the world of the paranormal and the
unexplained. Not to mention everything around us. Our team artist,
Greg Champy, was not intending for this kind of perception of these
two beacons that were meant to be headlights. He was just trying to
keep our Facebook page fresh. But different people see artwork in
slightly different ways.
Now, check out the photo
below that's been circulating for years
What do you see? Do you see
a rabbit...or a duck. What you see at first depends on how your mind
works. Psychiatrists have been using ink blot pictures in this way to
interpret the patients' state of mind for years. It's a great way to
spot a person's obsessions and perceptions. It tells immediately
what their mind is focused on.
Because that thing we focus
on is what we create. It becomes our reality. And that's how we'll
actually see it.
And you may have noticed
this in the past with a hundred other visuals and didn't give it much
thought. But this is really a big deal. It impacts how we view
reality, so it impacts everything.
Why? Because this means
there cannot possibly be an absolute reality. There is only our
personal perception of it. So everything we see is determined by our
minds interpretation. And we all have a slightly different
interpretation, because we've all lived a different life and
experienced things differently. So, in the rabbit/duck picture, what
are we really seeing? The answer it's a rabbit...and it's also a
duck, basically depending on what you, from past experiences, EXPECT
to see.
I.E. If your experience of
seeing a dog for the first time is seeing it lunging toward you,
growling and snapping, that has a certain impact on your brain. It
records in your mind that dogs are evil, growling, biting monsters
you should always avoid. And the next time you see a dog, you react
with fear because of that early experience. But if you grew up in a
house full of cuddly puppies, of course, you'll have a completely
different view. And the kicker is, you'll have a really hard time
understanding a person's fear of them. You won't have had that
experience, so you're reality is different.
Our brain is wired to try to
associate everything we see with something familiar. And what that
vision or event will mean to us is based on experiences we've had of
it before.. Whenever we see or experience something, our brain is
recording it for future reference. If it's something new that we've
never seen or experienced before, you can bet our brain is busy
taking notes, trying to process it all and save it for future
reference. But this is why we often become dumbfounded and time seems
to move slower when we see something we can't process. Our brain
actually has to slow it down in order to get a grasp on it.
The worlds of forensics and
criminal justice have become increasingly more wary of eye witness
accounts and will, in addition, search for other more tangible
evidence to back them up. Why? Because we're learning that what we
see is very much controlled by what we think and how we think about
it. So eye witness testimony is becoming less and less reliable.
Now, I've brought this
subject up before in paranormal circles, only to receive messages and
emails from people asking me why I don't believe they saw what they
saw. But it's not that I don't believe these stories. In fact, I
believe beyond a shadow of a doubt (cautiously, of course) that these
witnesses saw what they say they saw. But there's a lot more to
“seeing” than just your eyes.
First of all, we don't
really see things with our eyes. Our eyes are merely a lens, like a
camera lens. We actually see with the part of our brain known as the
visual cortex. And whenever we see anything, the visual cortex is
making its interpretation based on past experiences. So nothing is
quite as “real” as it may seem to us.
But this revelation about
reality should have thrown the world on it's ear. Yet, it hasn't so
far. Why not? Because we're not quite grasping the implications. It
could go as far as to mean the line between what's real and what
isn't, aren't as clearly defined. They're all open to the
interpretation of the viewer. We've all been taught to think one
person is right and one person is wrong. But if we're all seeing the
“reality” based on our personal view, then what is REALLY real?
Who's right and who's wrong?
Sure, you'll agree with the
person who sees it the same way you do. But knowing all this, does
that method of decision hold water?
How on earth do we decide
what is real??!!
Now, I'll say again that
this doesn't mean I don't believe in anything. Quite the contrary.
But we have to be very aware of how our brains process information
and we need to take that into account when we decide what we're
seeing in front of us. How many different ways could this be
interpreted? Think it through. Always strive to be logical.
So, in relating this to
bigfoot research, I would say this. When we're doing research, or
just trying to decide what's real. We need to be aware that we can't
really rely on our eyes to tell us some absolute truth. But that
being said, that doesn't mean our eyes are always lying either. It
may just mean the world isn't as concrete and solid as we'd like to
believe it is. There's a lot of mystery left there, and the more we
know, the more mysterious it becomes.
My personal advice is this:
If we're all creating reality by the way we perceive things, we have
the power to make the choice to create it in a positive way and
believe in possibilities rather than waste time focusing on the
negatives. Just my two cents.
But you don't have to take
my word for it. If you're curious to know more about perception and
reality, watch parts 1 and 2 of Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes. Tell
us what you think.
Here is a couple more popular images for you to study over.
Don't get excited ....it's just a lamp.
Face illusion - forward or side view?
*******DF
This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a Professional Writer, a nature, wildlife and Bigfoot enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Dorraine conducts research, special interviews and more for The Crypto Crew. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!
This post sponsored in part by
(Interested in sponsoring a story? then send us an Email!)
This Post By TCC Team Member Dorraine Fisher. Dorraine is a ProfessionalWriter, a nature, wildlife and Bigfoot enthusiast who has written for many magazines. Dorraine conducts research, special interviews and more for The Crypto Crew. Get Dorraine's book The Book Of Blackthorne!
How Your Mind Plays Tricks
5 Quirks of the Human Brain That Can Mess Up Your Perceptions
By Dorraine Fisher
As if there weren’t enough problems for those in the paranormal world trying to prove to others what’s real. As if there weren’t enough reasons for skeptics and naysayers to stay critical.
But when you’re on a quest for knowledge, it helps to have all the facts and all the roadblocks within your comprehension before you even start. And it’s especially true for sasquatch researchers. We need to know what could happen so we can make sure it doesn’t happen.
Before you even attempt to make a determination of what you’ve seen, you need to be aware that there are 5 key things that can mess up your perceptions. And you need to make doubly sure you understand these and can rule them out in any situation. So here goes:
1. Pareidolia is the phenomenon in our brain that causes us to turn random visuals into something familiar. And we especially like to turn them into faces…even if those faces are distorted or unusual. We don’t really see with our eyes, we see with a part of our brain known as the visual cortex. And our brain, in an attempt to sort out something new or shocking that it sees, will attempt to relate it to something familiar. Faces are the most comforting and familiar thing to us, so naturally our brain chooses them to see…when maybe all we’re seeing is random objects.
2. Slow motion perception is something we’ve all experienced at one time or another. It’s that strange feeling during a traumatic event that time is moving slower than regular time. No one really knows for sure what causes this phenomenon, but it is believed that, in an attempt of the brain to sort out what’s happening, it slows it down to a speed it can handle to break it all down, giving us the illusion of the event happening in slow motion. Though anyone else observing the event would see it in real time. It is believed that the more energy expended by neurons to process the event, the longer the time span will seem to the person experiencing it.
This can seriously distort our idea of how much time lapsed during a paranormal encounter. Since you’re the one that had the experience, it seemed much longer to you, when it may have only been a few seconds.
3. False memories are a real problem in cases of traumatic events. Our brains don’t like things to be incomplete. So if we don’t recall certain details of an event, our brain will attempt to create details to fill in the gaps. We’re not always geared to do this, but it’s important to write down all the details of the event right after it happens in order to keep things straight. And even then, you might find the details are a little sketchy. And the worse thing about false memories is that someone can actually create them for you through the power of suggestion. If someone would show you a photoshopped picture of yourself at Woodstock, your brain will actually create a memory of the event, even though you were never there. You’ll come to believe it even though it never happened. The ultimate mind____. Try not to fall into this trap.
4. Change blindness is a simple phenomenon but can profoundly affect what we see… or don’t see. The ability to detect change is a basic but very important function in our daily life. But if we’re focused on something, like something traumatic or scary, we’re likely to miss other important details of the scene; other changes that may be taking place in the background. Sometimes very important details. But scientists theorize that in order for our brains to process an event effectively, it must be able to focus on the central event itself. So it will allow the focus to simplify itself on what has our attention at the time. And other details will begin to blur. This is helpful in certain situations where we need to focus on one thing, but very difficult in a case of mayhem where we need to process more than one thing at a time. It appears that our brains weren’t quite designed for this, and we find chaotic scenes very overwhelming. We simply can’t process it all. The only change we can detect in the background is when something moves and diverts our attention. If nothing moves, our focus stays on the main event. And we can miss a lot of details when this happens.
5. The McGurk Effect is the most confusing phenomenon of all. But in a nutshell, it’s a phenomenon of each of our senses perceiving something in a different way when each is allowed to work separately. And it can profoundly affect what we think we see or hear. So we have to be very careful and allow our senses to do their work and always keep this little brain quirk in mind when we recall events.
Watch this video about the McGurk Effect and you’ll see what I mean:
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