Perception
“Seeing is Believing” Vs. “Never Trust Your Own Eyes”
Which of these statements is most helpful when building an understanding of the world around us?
The state motto for Missouri, USA, is “show me.” The people there are reluctant to believe in anything that they do not see with their own eyes. In essence, “seeing is believing.” Knowledge is captured through our sense perceptions. Throughout life, we see, hear, smell, taste and feel things, which are used as the basis of our knowledge to help build an understanding of our world. However, sometimes our senses are flawed, leading to “incorrect” perceptions of certain things. This being so, we are frequently reminded to “never trust our own eyes.” So then, which one of these phrases is most helpful in building an understanding of our world? Should we believe what we see or not trust our own eyes?
We often hear people say, “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.” In fact, this type of instinctive connection between seeing and believing has become so common that many people are willing to refuse a certain reality until they see it for themselves. But the first thing we may argue upon hearing the phrase, “seeing is believing,” is that not everything we see is true. For example, when a young man is seen grabbing an old lady, people may think that the young man is in the process of attacking or robbing the lady. In reality, the young man may have been saving a choking victim. We see that the man is “attacking” the lady, but does this make is true? Certainly not. So no, it is not safe for us to believe everything we see, but at the same time, it is not logical to doubt everything we perceive. In many cases, what we see is what we believe to be “true.” For instance, I see that a fruit fly is smaller than a cockroach. Most people would claim that that is indeed true.
There are two approaches to believing. One is via rationalizing, by using logic and reasoning to make decisions, and the other is
Which of these statements is most helpful when building an understanding of the world around us?
The state motto for Missouri, USA, is “show me.” The people there are reluctant to believe in anything that they do not see with their own eyes. In essence, “seeing is believing.” Knowledge is captured through our sense perceptions. Throughout life, we see, hear, smell, taste and feel things, which are used as the basis of our knowledge to help build an understanding of our world. However, sometimes our senses are flawed, leading to “incorrect” perceptions of certain things. This being so, we are frequently reminded to “never trust our own eyes.” So then, which one of these phrases is most helpful in building an understanding of our world? Should we believe what we see or not trust our own eyes?
We often hear people say, “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen it for myself.” In fact, this type of instinctive connection between seeing and believing has become so common that many people are willing to refuse a certain reality until they see it for themselves. But the first thing we may argue upon hearing the phrase, “seeing is believing,” is that not everything we see is true. For example, when a young man is seen grabbing an old lady, people may think that the young man is in the process of attacking or robbing the lady. In reality, the young man may have been saving a choking victim. We see that the man is “attacking” the lady, but does this make is true? Certainly not. So no, it is not safe for us to believe everything we see, but at the same time, it is not logical to doubt everything we perceive. In many cases, what we see is what we believe to be “true.” For instance, I see that a fruit fly is smaller than a cockroach. Most people would claim that that is indeed true.
There are two approaches to believing. One is via rationalizing, by using logic and reasoning to make decisions, and the other is