PERCEPTION

Perception can be defined as our recognition and interpretation of sensory

information. Perception also includes how we respond to the information. We can think
of perception as a process where we take in sensory information from our environment and use
that information in order to interact with our environment.

SUBJECTIVE FACTORS OF PERCEPTION:

 Subjective perception is an opinion or judgment from personal experiences, and view.

My analogy is giving an opinion on an antique table. ... Experiences, vocation and
background are a few reasons for the subjective in one's perception of life.

 Subjective perception can mean more than one thing.

The more popular meaning is your personal opinions and beliefs. Like if something is
ugly or beautiful, if chocolate ice-cream tastes better than vanilla. They are personal
because they are not factual beliefs, in the sense that there is no objective way of
"knowing" if chocolate is in fact better than vanilla. It can be better to me, but maybe to
you vanilla tastes better.

 In philosophy, however, subjective perception has a slightly different meaning.

It means every sensation that you feel. It's not exactly the opinion you have of the
sensation (e.g. "chocolate tastes better than vanilla"), but the sensation itself (e.g. the taste
itself).

 So, we can argue that colors, for example, do not exist objectively, in the things
themselves, but exist only as subjective perceptions that originate in one's mind when
there is an input of a certain stimulus (e.g. a certain type of light hitting one's retina). It
can be argued that even the light has no color, because the color is the subjective
perception itself, and not the wavelength of the light. And even though the perception
depends, most of the time, on the objective presence of the light that is not always the
case. In some cases we see colors even when there is no light hitting our retinas to
produce that effect, like when we dream or when a person hallucinates.
  Color is only one example of what constitutes subjective perception. All other senses and
everything that happens inside one’s own mind constitute an individual’s subjective
perception.

 Subjective perception is an opinion or judgment from personal experiences, and view of

life. My analogy is giving an opinion on an antique table. A carpenter will say, love the
detailed carvings - much time to create the details, and wood used is solid cedar of high
quality. An antique dealer may say the style of the table is the period created because
they have the characteristics of that time. An interior designer may think, the dimensions
and type of wood grain, color are perfect for my client’s dining room.

 As a category, the concept of subjective factor serves to convey the method by which peo
ple affect objective conditions; it illuminates the moving forces of history and the signific
ance of actual practice in changing reality and explains the reverse effect of superstructur
a!, ideological, and psychological phenomena on the material base. In practical activity, t
he objective and subjective aspects of the historical process emerge as interpenetrating an
d interacting facets of a single phenomenon.

 The subjective factor’s growing role in history is an extremely important aspect of the his
torical process. In periods of major historical change, the subjective factor can become de
cisive in the transformation of social relationships if it coincides with developing objectiv
e conditions. The success of a rebellion or revolution, given the presence of its objective
prerequisites, is conditioned by the subjective factor, expressed in such forms as political
consciousness and maturity, decisiveness, will, degree of organization, and the ability of t
he class in question to carry out bold decisions and actions under revolutionary party lead
ership.

OBJECTIVE FACTORS OF PERCEPTION

 Objective perception means perceiving reality, all that confronts our awareness, as it is. It
is a matter of seeing things as they are, rather than seeing them from a certain point of
view or position.
 So by objective we do not mean the scientific positivist sense, in which objective means
what exists physically outside us rather than in the mind. We also do not mean objective
in the sense of not being emotional, or not being experiential.

 We mean seeing things, seeing internal or external things as they are, instead of
subjectively. Subjective is the antithesis; it means according to our positions, feelings,
filters, beliefs and attitudes. So objective perception means pure perception, free from all
positions, bias, filters, conflicts, intentions etc. It perceives whatever it is without any
obscuration or intermediacy, so we see it just the way it is in itself.
 In the experience of unity, the objective perception of reality is that the boundaries that
you see are actually creations of your mind. They are figments of your imagination. You
have created this image and idea in your mind, and then said, “That’s me. I end here, and
the other person starts there. I end here, and the chair starts there. You start over there,
and you end over there.” That is how we experience ourselves. But what if it is not really
like that? You just think it is that way, and because you think it is that way, you see
reality that way. Of course, if you see reality through the idea that you start here and end
here—of course, you will live your life in a certain way. The interests of other people
might not be your interests, and your interests might conflict with the interests of others,
and then comes the issue of what’s mine and what’s yours. Can I have my share; can you
have your share? With the assumption of separateness come the issues of giving and
receiving, loving and being loved, having and acquiring, and all of that. All these things
which are the causes of people’s problems are based on the assumption that we have a
circumference.

 When our perception is like a clear mirror, without subjective judgment, we find reality
to be just right. If our mirror creates any distortion, if our perception of reality contains
any subjective preferences or ideas, then we are seeing reality from a deluded point of
view and we will miss its inherent perfection. This makes our work very obvious: to find
out what is in the way of perceiving reality as it is—to find out what our obscurations are,
where our perception is deluded. The way we ordinarily see the world is not the way it
really is because we see it from the perspective of our judgments and preferences, our
likes and dislikes, our fears and our ideas of how things should be. So to see things as
they really are, which is to see things objectively, we have to put these aside—in other
words, we have to let go of our minds. Seeing things objectively means that it doesn’t
matter whether we think what we’re looking at is good or bad—it means just seeing it as
it is. If a scientist is conducting an experiment, he doesn’t say, “I don’t like this so I’ll
ignore it.” He may not personally care for the results because they don’t confirm his
theory, but pure science means seeing things the way they really are. If he says he is not
going to pay attention to the experiment because he doesn’t like it that is not science. Yet,
this is the way most of us deal with reality, inwardly and outwardly.
REFERENCE:

 Moore, Brian C. J. (15 October 2009). "Audition". In Goldstein, E. Bruce

(Ed.). Encyclopedia of Perception
 Brookes, Jennifer (13 August 2010). "Science is perception: what can our sense of smell
tell us about ourselves and the world around us?". Philosophical Transactions.
 Stone, James V. (2012): "Vision and Brain: How we perceive the world", Cambridge,
MIT Press, pp. 155-178.