Detriments and Saving Graces of Perception

Perception carries within it some very dangerous concepts when you extend it to our everyday lives.

Perception is something I characterize as being wholly unique to the individual. It helps that the prevailing explanation for perception is also based on the individual's frame of reference. I find it remarkable how our perception can change so much depending on a varying set of circumstances. Even something so minute as one new piece of information can have a profound impact on the way we perceive things.

For that reason, I don't know if I would want to know every single thing. Knowing things that are outside of my perception could have a profoundly negative impact on me. I always remember the saying, "Ignorance is bliss" and often ponder the wisdom of it when considering such things. It's true sometimes that there are things you would rather not know because knowing them would hurt you. It's pretty much also a fact that the vast majority of people talk about others and gossip about the people they know. Given that I am a person and I know people, I'm not sure I would want to know everything that's said about me.

Now I'm not stupid enough to think that it would all be negative or it would all be positive. I'd hope that it would be mostly positive. At the end of the day, however, I've got no real way of knowing what anyone thinks of me; I've no way of truly viewing things from another's perception. Obviously we've all got those little things that we don't like about other no matter how much we may love them. That, I suppose, is the harsh reality of the situation.

We always want to know the unknown. We may think that all knowledge is worth having no matter what and, though there may be a lot of wisdom in saying that, it's not necessarily a good thing in all cases. I've determined that I wouldn't want to know everything that's said about me because once you know something you can never unknow it (barring a freak case of soap opera-like amnesia). Some may say that my decision may have been derived based on fear or cowardice but I would argue otherwise. If by not knowing certain things I can either be happier or at least remain at my current level of happiness then I believe that the reward is worth the cost. It's not through some act of cowardice that I would prefer to not have all of the knowledge but through an act of strength and a healthy concern for my own well-being.

As an aside, I suppose that proves that I actually do care what others think about me, but I think that feeling is pretty universal on some level and is a little off topic for this blog post.

In a large sense, I am truly glad that human perception, and thus the knowledge we gain through it, is limited to the experiences of the individual. I believe both that the consequences of having additional knowledge beyond our ken or being forced to additional knowledge could prove very hazardous. Obviously I want to know all the good things people say about me and none of the bad things - Like any civilised person would.