FC 173 fetched some authentic comments. I am grateful to my readers for their support.
Lynn Weiss from DC says: “We live in a world where authenticity is scarce. Fake news is the headline of the day. AI makes it easier to create a make-believe world. POTUS frequently uses the word ‘hyperbole’ because we lack the credibility and honesty to be authentic.”
Rita Kapur: “I love your writings. Precise, short and entertaining. We can read and learn from it and remember what you say. Enjoy your trip to Kohima.”
Tarun Kunzru questions: “Is conjuring up a superior being with no real physical existence and using that to control people's minds authentic and acceptable? And we humans, who divide and even kill for this, are we not "deep fakes" and claim to be the smartest on this planet?”
Lakshmi Raman says: “If one is authentic but not sensitive to people or a situation, one can put them off. The speed at which fake news spreads reminds me of poet Yeats's lines ‘the best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.’”
Prasad Neginhal says: “We have fakes, counterfeits, unauthentic behaviour among people and now deep fakes. Is there hope for change for the better?”
Shereyar Vakil says: “In my dictionary, fake stands for ‘false assumptions knowingly emphasised’. Confucius says, ‘he who admits all his faults has one less fault to admit.’”
💭 Perceptions
All of us can use our senses to see, hear, feel or become aware of something. This is the normal human perception. The word acquires an entirely different connotation if we worry about others' views and how they might see, feel or regard a situation or judge our actions.
My readers might agree if I said that perception, our sensory quality, is associated more with what others perceive. We care more about what others might think or say than our own beliefs and convictions. I recall elders at my home, decades back, expressing their concerns about women staying out after 7 pm in words like “ayyo, what will people think!”. Looking back, their concern was not about the safety of those women but about the perception of the people around them.
In reality, fear of perception is a self-imposed paranoia. I am saying this without making it a psychological dimension of human behaviour. I am not qualified for that. But the fear of others’ opinions is in reality a factor that inhibits one's rational thinking. Opinions do matter, and they often present useful perspectives, but unsolicited opinions can be counterproductive and may lead to confusion and indecision.
Perception is not an expression of one's view on a matter if that person is second guessing or pretending to be knowledgeable, or is feeling compelled to give his or her perspective for fear of being looked upon as uninformed. The ability to say “I don’t know” or “I’m afraid I am not qualified to express an opinion” is a facet of that person's integrity and honesty.
We readily share our perceptions, whether solicited or unsolicited. We do it, forgetting that perception is the act of perceiving intuitively, and that intuition is founded on prior knowledge and experience. Perception is an insightful comment or observation. Any other way, it would be a surmise.
You hear the expression ‘I feel’ or ‘I think’ quite often. They are not perceptions. The words ‘I believe’ implies that you accept something as true or have prior knowledge. But many of us, including me, use ‘I think’ and ‘I believe’ interchangeably. If someone asks me, “Where is Johnny? I haven’t seen him.”, I could say “I believe he is travelling” if I am familiar with his travel plans, or I could say “I think he might be travelling” if I am familiar with his tendency to travel often.
Speaking of travel, I am writing this post in my room at a hotel in Kohima. I came here from Kaziranga and before that, I spent two days in Guwahati. Made a mandatory, if not customary, visit to the famous Kamakhya temple, about which perceptions are aplenty. Why do I say perceptions and not beliefs? Simply because, from what I heard, people don’t have a uniformly shared blind belief in the powers of the deity, but each one has heard of events and incidents which form the basis for their perceptions.
Kaziranga and Rhino are synonymous. We went on a Jeep safari and sighted Rhinos, elephants and of course many deer. Contrary to popular perception, the heavyset Rhino can, if it’s irritated, run quite fast. I saw a video of such a chase.
I am now in Kohima to witness the many colours of the famous Horn Bill Festival. More of that in my next post.
I was not sure of making it to the Sunday deadline. My perception was that I would not find time or would be travel fatigued. Reality turned out favourably. I found enough ‘yen and pen’ to write this post, albeit a bit brief.
To end in a lighter vein, here’s a joke about perception:
Three morons are looking at a side profile of a man, The first one comments “he has only one eye”. “And he has only one ear” chimes in the second. “He wears contact lenses” declares the third. “How do you say that?” ask the other two. Pleased with himself, the third moron says “Well, with only one eye and one ear he can’t wear regular glasses, can he?”
Dear readers, please share your perceptions on this post about perceptions. Until next week,
Take care and be safe. Ciao.
Perceptions are the product of our sense organs. They are different from opinions or judgements or beliefs. The latter are garnished by our emotions. Perceptions are less subjective than the others. The best example of perception is the description of the elephant by the six blind men. All were right. Though not complete. All the great philosophers or vedantins gave us different perceptions of God head and all are right.
Thanks for touching on the subtleties of Perception. As my late Mother's caregiver, I recall trying to perceive Life through her limited faculties. This made me more empathetic. When a mentor/teacher perceives a topic through the eyes of a neophyte, he usually becomes more gentle.