Most folks believe that the world is exactly the way it looks. However this is often not true. There are a number of things going on that prevent us from perceiving truth. No one is immune. Perceiving truth is difficult.
The summary is this: People believe what they want to believe, and they make up stuff to fill in the gaps of knowledge.
Want to Believe
People believe what matches up with what they already believe. This is called Confirmation Bias.
We form an opinion first. Then we look out into the world to look for confirmation that our opinion is true. We put on some “sunglasses” that filters everything we perceive. These “sunglasses” let in everything that we already agree with, while they block out everything that we don’t agree with.
You can talk to someone who says, “Men are pigs!” And they will swear up and down that there’s evidence everywhere that confirms this. So they go on believing that men are pigs. This is Confirmation Bias rearing it’s head.
Fill in the Gaps
People fill in the knowledge gaps with conjecture, guessing and making stuff up. This is how we make sense of our world.
Often we don’t have all the information. We see what someone does, but we aren’t given insight into why they did that. So we fill it in. We think, “Oh they did that because …” And we can fill in all kinds of things, often negative and unhelpful.
We think, “Oh they did that because they are inconsiderate,” or “They are saying that because they’re selfish and they don’t care.” And we believe it’s true. If someone asks, we say, “Oh yeah! So and so is just an ass. Ask anyone. It’s true.” This too is a type of “sunglasses.”
We go into a lot of judgement with people about things we assume are true, but in fact we really don’t know. Then we run on assumptions and try to exact retribution … all based on lies we’ve made up.
Why It Matters
So you might be thinking, “well this is interesting, but so what?” Well, what we believe and how we perceive the world shapes our experience of life.
Let’s look more closely at the “men are pigs” example. Suppose it’s a woman who has this view. Everywhere she sees men, she sees them as pigs. How is this woman going to navigate through life? My guess is that she’ll have a hard time forming functional romantic relationships. She will probably be single as long as she holds this view. She’ll also have a hard time trusting people, especially men.
So in the middle of many women finding great supportive mates in life, this woman can’t seem to hold a stable relationship. Her world view is giving her more of what she believes, which is probably the very thing that she doesn’t want.
The punch line is this. Your beliefs, world views, and mindsets create the world you experience. If you want something different in life, maybe it’s time to change your “sunglasses.”
