Man’s oldest and perhaps most important question is, what is reality? (mind perception) Often we think that we all live in the same world, all look and feel the same. But is it true? Are our observations and experiences exactly the same?
If we look deep into modern psychology, neuroscience, and philosophy, we see a different picture. The external world may be the same, but the world that inhabits us, the scenes that are created and distorted in our minds (mind perception & thoughts), are completely different and unique to each person. It is a ‘hidden land’ where everyone is living in their own different reality.
Mind Filtering: Every Thought Has a Unique Look
Our mind is not an empty slate (Tabula Rasa) on which the world can make its own designs. It is an active and continuous filtering system. Daniel Kahneman, a well-known psychologist and Nobel laureate, said in his book ‘Thinking, Fast and Slow’ that our brain works in two parts: one part is fast, emotional, and unintentional, while the other part makes slow, logical and deliberate decisions. Together, these two parts shape our every decision and thought.
Our past, our memories, culture, religion, our fears and our hopes, all these together form a special ‘Perceptual Lens’. Simply put, this perspective lens is a mental lens that forces us to look at everything from its specific angle.
An example of this is that when there is a protest march in a city, it can be a ‘right to democracy’ for one person, while another considers it a ‘threat to law and order’. Both of them are looking at the same event, but their thinking is different. Their observation is biased or biased in its own right. Similarly, when a poet goes into the forest, he sees the beauty of nature and its deep emotions, but in the same forest, a businessman sees only the value of wood and its potential profits. The eyes are seeing the same thing, but the images in their minds are completely different.
Philosophical question: Are we all imprisoned in the same tunnel?
This debate in philosophy is centuries old. The 18th-century philosopher George Berkeley’s famous quote “Esse est percipi” (“the existence of something depends on its perception”) is the basis of this idea. Nowadays this thinking comes in the form of ‘solipsism’, according to which a person cannot say anything with certainty about any existence other than his own mind. This may be an extreme thinking, but it points to the fact that our own existence is at the heart of every experience we have.
Everything we know reaches our brains through our senses. Our brain converts these signals into color, sound, and feeling. So isn’t it possible that our reality is just a finite and incomplete version? Because our senses are limited; we can’t see ultraviolet light and we can’t hear like dogs.
In the new light of neuroscience, our brain is a creator
David Eagleman, a renowned neuroscientist of modern neuroscience, explained in his book ‘The Brain: The Story of You’ that our brain is like a ‘closed unit’. It only receives electrical signals. These signals are neither light nor sound, but our brain molds them into colors, scents and emotions. In this sense, our whole life is actually a ‘conscious creation’. Neuroscientist Anil Seth’s theory of ‘predictive processing’ also supports this, according to which our brain constantly predicts what it is going to feel from the outside. (mind perception)
The root cause of conflict, the arrogance of one’s own reality
This is not just an academic or philosophical debate. Our daily lives, our social conflicts, and even international conflicts arise from the same misconception that “my reality is the final and final reality”. When we refuse to accept that the other person’s perspective is also the result of his own mental makeup, his personal experiences, and his own inner world, the conversation ends and the conflict begins.
So what’s the solution? The solution is not to abandon our inner reality, because it is not possible. The solution lies in accepting the fact that “every human being lives in his own world”.
This thinking gives us a humility, a humility that allows us to listen to and understand the thoughts and perspectives of others, even if we don’t agree with them. This is the foundation that ensures healthy relationships, positive conversations, and peaceful coexistence. The scenes of our outer world may be the same for everyone, but far more mysterious and expansive are the journeys of our inner worlds that our minds see. Accepting this truth is actually the first step to true wisdom.
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