The Problem With Perception
BOOK III: The Enigmatic Mystery – Consideration #190 (SPECIAL EDITION)
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Tuesday May 27, 2025
“What you see is not what others see. We inhabit parallel worlds of perception, bounded by our interests and experience. What is obvious to some is invisible to others.”
– George Monbiot
“Science is nothing but perception.”
– Plato
PREFACE
Welcome Everybody!
As we near the end of our considerations regarding VOLUME I: Science & Religion – Understanding Essential Physics and Metaphysics, we have reached a point where we can begin to connect previous considerations to current considerations. In Newsletters #75 and #76 (March 21, 2023 and March 28, 2023) I utilized three examples of empirical illusion to help demonstrate the nature of the spiritual paradigm. In this week’s newsletter I will consider how these same three illusions help to demonstrate the problems with perception related to science and religion. If you want to know more about these illusions, and the chaos they inspired at the time, I encourage you to read these previous considerations.
“…we depend on the objective nature of physicality to verify the objective nature of empirical reality.”
The bedrock foundation of the natural sciences was based on empirical verification by the five senses: in other words, empirical perception. We understand the nature of rational and spiritual ambiguity, but we depend on the objective nature of physicality to verify the objective nature of empirical reality. However, the inconsistent nature of empirical perception through the five senses is often not as objective as we tend to think.
This can be demonstrated through three empirical illusions related to rational focus, visual perception, and aural perception. These three examples overwhelmingly establish that human beings do not rationally or empirically perceive objective reality the same way.
CONSIDERATION #190 – The Problem With Perception
In 2015 and 2018 the objectivity of our empirical senses came into doubt when two social media posts revealed the incredible division between how people visually and auditorily perceived the exact same thing.
“In 2015 and 2018 social videos demonstrating how differently people can see, or hear, the same thing dominated the attention of news, social media, and water cooler discussion. The ‘Yanny vs. Laurel’ and the ‘White Dress vs. Blue Dress’ debate was the social controversy of its day.”
– Frank Elkins (Free Weekly Newsletter Consideration #75 – March 21, 2023)
The “White Dress vs. Blue Dress” argument revolved around a dress that appeared to some people to be white while to others it appeared clearly to be blue. The “Yanny vs. Laurel” disagreement centered around a posted audio clip that some people heard as “Yanny”, and other people heard as “Laurel”.
“In 2015, the photograph of a dress appeared on Facebook. However, some people saw a white dress with gold lace, while others saw a blue dress with black lace. Later, in 2018, a young high school girl posted an auditory illusion she noticed based on the word ‘Laurel’… After posting the audio clip, many people did not hear anything like the name ‘Laurel,’ instead, clearly hearing the word ‘Yanny.’”
– Frank Elkins (Free Weekly Newsletter Consideration #75 – March 21, 2023)
It is important to note that these examples do not reflect minor disagreements regarding perception; “Yanny” sounds nothing like “Laurel” and the colors white and gold are generally distinguishable from dark blue and black. Of course, both sides believed the other side to be wrong, and even crazy, regarding their “mistaken” perception of the “truth.” However, they all at least agreed that there was “in fact” a dress and a voice.
“The entire nation was arguing about whether a dress from the same photograph seen on Facebook by everybody was blue or white, and whether the same word they all heard on YouTube was Laurel or Yanny. And there was no room for debate! People who saw a blue dress, knew for certain it was a blue dress. Those who saw a white dress, couldn’t understand how anyone could see a blue dress. Those who heard the word ‘Yanny’ found it impossible to even conceive of how someone else could hear the name ‘Laurel.’ And it was obviously ‘Laurel’ for those who heard ‘Laurel.’ At least they all agreed that there was in fact a dress, and that they all heard a voice. Their disagreement was one of difference over perception or interpretation, as opposed to substance.”
– Frank Elkins (Free Weekly Newsletter Consideration #75 – March 21, 2023)
However, in the 1970’s people began to disagree over whether a visual image only perceivable to some people really even existed.
“…in the 1970’s a product known as a 3D Stereogram created a complete frenzy when people began arguing about whether the 3D image ‘hiding in the artwork’ really existed at all.”
– Frank Elkins (Free Weekly Newsletter Consideration #75 – March 21, 2023)
Seeing the hidden 3-D image in a Stereogram was not a matter of seeing, it was a matter of rational perception. To a great extent seeing the image depended on focus and faith; people who could refocus their perception and accept the possibility of a hidden image were more likely to see it. Some people found it impossible to ever perceive the hidden image, such as the image of a 3-D dinosaur.
“After a while, many of the people who never see the dinosaur begin to question the veracity of those who claim they do; perhaps it’s all just a hoax! After all, there is certainly nothing wrong with them! Therefore, there must be something going on with those who claim to see something that really isn't there.
Now, the chasm between those who can, and those who can’t, see this alternate image has vastly increased; because it's now a matter of principle over perception.”
– Frank Elkins (Free Weekly Newsletter Consideration #76 – March 28, 2023)
These unique examples of “mass disagreement” over relatively simple “empirical facts” reveal the extent to which indisputable empirical observations are in fact quite often disputed. Although it might be theoretically possible to “scientifically” establish the exact vibrations of the color and sound to determine the scientific “truth,” it would not change the perception of the person perceiving it.
POSTSCRIPT
Science reflects an attempt to move beyond the subjective nature of rational metaphysics and spirituality to a more empirically objective consideration of reality based on human sensory perception. Often called the “real world.” A reality founded on agreement regarding its tangible physical attributes. Traditionally, barring some unknown disability, it was expected that people would see, hear, and perceive, tangible physical reality the same way. However, these accidental experiments on social media clearly show this not to be the case.
“…the stereogram example also shows that people perceive rational reality differently”
Not only do people perceive sound and images differently, but the stereogram example also shows that people perceive rational reality differently. If we push this a little further and consider disorders such as schizophrenia, we find examples where virtually everything we think of as tangible reality is replaced with a completely new rational reality. We are inclined to think of these deviances as unique to the specific individual suffering from a specific disorder. However, it may be wise to consider that it says more about the nature of reality than the disorder of the individual.
“…it may be that empirical reality is not as tangible or agreeable as once thought.”
In the natural sciences human perception could not be completely trusted, which is why empirical evidence and rational mathematics were required to verify it. However, it may be that empirical reality is not as tangible or agreeable as once thought.
As quantum sciences, such as string theory, focus more on the rationality of reality the more we lose our traditional anchor to empirical reality. The increasingly rational questions being considered by quantum science are as reminiscent of Greek metaphysics as they are of modern scientific theories: What is the real world? Does human perception reflect a true picture of empirical or rational reality? Is there a bridge between rationality and objectivity? Are there dimensions of reality beyond empirical reality? Is the objective world real?
These questions become even more critical as we consider the next stages of human and scientific perception: Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence.
Links to Newsletters #75 and #76:
Next week we will consider Scientific Mystery #3 – Wave-Particle Duality…
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