HUMAN PERCEPTION AND ITS EVOLUTION
Perception is a set of processes in the human brain through which we become aware that we exist and live, and that something is around us or is happening.
Perception has three components:
1. signals from the senses (sight, hearing, smell, etc.)
2. their interpretation (“this is a chair”)
3. the subsequent action or non-action (shall I sit down?)
Our perception is completely learned!
We were taught how to recognise what a chair is, what it is called, and also when we can sit down and when it is not appropriate.
Different people perceive the same reality in different ways. Because we grew up in different environments and with different people, we were taught to interpret the signals from our senses differently and also to make very different decisions.
Human perception is still evolving both individually and collectively, which is an expression of the evolution of our species and of life in general. Different ways of perceiving are evolutionarily successful to different degrees. It is logical to admit that people who are more successful in life probably also perceive the reality around them better (more accurately or more truthfully). This leads them to better decisions, which then leads to a better life for them.
In human society there are three different ways of perceiving that we can understand as three different regimes of our brain.
We have named them Competition, Cooperation, and Unification.
Human perception is still evolving both individually and collectively, which is an expression of the evolution of our species and of life in general.
WE CAN DEVELOP OUR PERCEPTION
The way we perceive reality is something we were taught. Most of us perceive it the same way the people we grew up with do. But we can change that.
We can develop, train, and consciously change our perception, because it is a skill. Just as we learned many other things — driving a car, playing a musical instrument, or speaking a foreign language — we can also learn a higher form of perception.
Through deep self-reflection in the form of meditation, in-aligning, or writing a journal, we first learn to see exactly how we perceive reality and why. Then, with the help of the table on the previous page, we realise how we could perceive the same situation differently or act differently. We have the opportunity to change our perception by choosing new attitudes and by changing our habits and decisions.
MULTI-PERSPECTIVE PERCEPTION
Another way is training the perception of different perspectives. Most of our perception comes from the perspective of our mind, because that is how we were taught. With conscious attention we can also feel the perception of our own body, of our own soul, and also the perspective of the whole (the universe, reality, everything that is, etc.). Each of them perceives reality differently.
Simply by focusing on different perspectives we discover that we perceive quite different things. When we then learn to unify these different perspectives, life becomes easier for us. By training this skill we also develop our intuition, and when we listen to it, we will succeed more. Would you like to know more?
