Perception is reality. Really? Neuroscience observes, measures and analyzes the way our brain works, to remind us that we are complex systems of reasons and emotions, in the simplest possible summary.
So, perception is reality? The usual thing is to believe we have the truth and make our observations the truth. We live with built-in preconceived models, something like wearing pink or yellow glasses, without realizing their capacity to modify our daily vision and understanding.
Let me tell you a story. It was March 2008 when I programmed the GPS in my rental car to find the nearest gas station. I had to fill the tank to avoid the high cost of fuel in the rental cars.
Finding myself on Avenue Marceau, it took me less than 3 minutes to be in front of the corner where the screen indicated a “gas station” on a corner of the emblematic Champs Elysées. The time it took me to arrive felt like 3 seconds.
Visibly and instantly it was easy to recognize the “system error”, as there was no gas station there. It was the same as always, as we never notice the moment when we get lost.
I immediately identified the second nearest gas station on the digital map, only to find myself in the same situation a few minutes later in another direction in the city: there is no gas station there! And so I went on for 4 more frustrating attempts.
Everything indicated a possible outcome: running out of diesel while my search was frustrated and the enigma grew bigger: where are the gas stations in Paris?
I resorted to the conventional recourse of asking several people, as I had to abandon what seemed to be a satellite navigation fiasco. Between my three words of French and the signed directions received, Parisians sent me to the same places where I had already checked for anything but a place to fill up.
Maybe it didn’t help to do the search at night, or maybe I was misled by my established perception of a “gas pump”. I spent about an hour and a half lost in the search, though it felt like a year of torture.
I was looking for the existing model in my mind and could not recognize the difference chosen by the French, as for decades they have protected their historical legacy and architectural gems.
Simple as it turns out, I finally discovered the obvious to the locals – gas stations in that area are subway! Then, with the intention of not adding visual pollution, their signs are discreetly directional within the regulated framework. So how do you discover what you can’t see?
The moral of the story is clear. To discover something new requires a willing attitude. My perception of reality is not necessarily true. My established ideas can distort my ability to make good decisions. I can easily see without seeing.
In short, the mind is like a parachute that only works if it is open.
Thus, it is high-risk to ignore the predefined schemes of our everyday environment. Certainly more open eyes, alert and willing to discover, would have been enough to have recognized the small big difference.
How much will we fail to see by not opening our eyes wide? There must be countless “gas stations” hidden among our fixations, for thinking of a gallo pinto as rice and beans with a pinch of sweet chili and some onion.
How many opportunities will we miss because of our preconceptions? How many ideas will we reject for not receiving the anticipated? Will we be able to discover the great possibilities that exist, without the influence of other points of view? Are we in the disposition to empty our cups to fill them again?
The current times call for collaboration as never before, and therefore, as an observer and not an expert, the gas station paradigm could help us look for what we do not see. We need new solutions.
Everything indicates that our brain constructs the reality we perceive. Do you have half an hour to spare?
Our behavior, our habits and visualizations of reality should be reviewed in the light of a possible conclusion: we could be looking for a new solution affected by the gas station paradigm.
Our perception of reality, although it is our own, could be wrong.
