Your perception of me is a Reflection of You; My Reaction to You is an Awareness of Me!
As a young boy, “Vishwa" (as he was called by his friends) had to walk a long way to school. Looking at his precariously frail build, his teacher had remarked that he would not live long. But this did not worry young ‘Vishwa’.
He knew his ability and started to sharpen it. He worked hard with passion. From a small government school in a village near Bengaluru, he reached to the next level to become a university topper. This was not it.The flame of motivation and ambition he had fetched him the position of 'Deewan' in the Court of the mysore Wodeyars. His dedication to public service led him to master mind the famous 'KRS dam' which has stood tall for a century and more!!
This young Vishwa' is who we all celebrate as India's greatest ever Engineer Bharata Ratna "Sir Mokshagundam Vishweshwariah" who lived for 103 years, young and energetic throughout his life.
This is one of such examples which has broken the barriers of other's perception of not being upto the mark. But rather having the self awareness to prove the opposite. Perceptions and motivation are not always true. The perception of others’ on us doesnot show who we are, rather reflects who they are!
The psychology of Perception!
Psychology defines Perception scientifically. Accordingly, "Perception is the process of how we recognize, interpret and give meaning to the information provided by our senses'.
Here, "interpretation is the key to define the personality of the perceiver. Interpretation is very subjective and depends on one's mental processes.
Mental processes in turn depends on the attitude, beliefs, and the values of the perceiver.
When Gandhiji withdrew Non Cooperation movement' post chauri chaura incident, many perceived it as a betrayal and cowardly act and resorted to extremism. But some perceived it as a step to adhere to the motto of Truth and non - Violence - the powerful weapons for Independence.
So, perceptions are ‘fallible’. It also depends on the needs of individuals.
In a research, Thematic Apperception test (TAT) (used to measure the underlying motives of a perceiver), were used to study perceptions of people. When some “ambiguous images” were shown to ‘hungry men’, they perceived it as ‘food items’! The same test if applied on subjects with ‘high achievement motivation’ and ‘leadership skills’, they perceived it as themes related to ability and goal attainment (McCleland and Atkinson).
This shows that the perception is based on One's inner motivation, attitudes and thoughts. Now the question arises as to how the “Art of self awareness develops?
As we think, so we perceive !
Perceptions impact how the person perceives someone or something. Once the Buddha was giving a sermon. A person among the gathering stood up and started to criticize the Buddha and his teaching. Yet, there was not a tinge of annoyance in the Buddha's face. When asked by one of his disciple as to why was he not worried about the man’ criticism, Buddha replied- “His criticisms are a result of his beliefs and his thoughts. It shows who he is. If I know who I am and if I do not accept the criticism then it is never Mine. It remains with himself” ! This shows that the person's self awareness is the major determinant of how he or she perceives !
Indian ancient philosophies and Upanishads speak of “self awareness” i.e, the Knowledge of Self or the “Atma jnana"! It says that “Atma jnana” can be achieved by the will to know oneself, & by believing in the power of introspection and Meditation! Fine tuning one's Capabilities, and focussing on one's strengths helps us to increase ‘self awareness’! It also gives us the capacity to filter out negative perceptions and accept the Positive ones!
Being Open to Constructive perceptions!
Psychology explains how 'selective attention helps to filter in the desired stimuli. This phenomenon is called the "Cocktail phenomenon" i.e. when in a party or in a crowded, noisy area, we will be able to focus on the words of the person to whom we are talking, by filtering the surrounding chaos, is it not? Like wise, this can be applied in life.
A person encounters numerous views and opinions from others. She or he has to be prepared to filter out unnecessary perceptions and to only consider ideas that are constructive to one's growth and progress!
When Savitri bai phule set out to promote ‘girl's education’, there were both positive and negative views from society. It was her ability to filter out negative perceptions that made her a great reformer!! Also in the modern democracy, a leader faces both ‘for and against’ perceptions and views about her activities, she has to be open to constructive criticisms to help her future policies! This shows how other's perception and reaction to it can be handled. Also, our reactions to their perceptions influences our own personality.
Perceptions strengthening our personality
When Thomas Alva Edison was a young boy He was rejected by his school,considering him a very dull student. But his mother believed that he was the brightest. Her perception of Thomas reflected her determination. In turn the reaction of Thomas to this was his irrevocable belief in his own capability allowing him to show the “light of hope" to the whole world.
Our personality is multifactorial. It depends on our traits, environment and also on our consciousness. The last two factors can have an impact on perception and self awareness.
The best example of this is when Sri Ramakrishna paramahansa perceived Swami Vivekananda as the right person to serve humanity. Vivekananda attained self awareness through a long inward journey to attain the 'Superconscious' (The state of Consciousness beyond Freud's explanation of Consciousness stages). This shaped his personality to be dedicated to the service of mankind.
Likewise, in this modern era the human race has to join each other's hand for development. It is important for the right kind of perception and also right kind of reaction to the perception to steer the path in any matter- right from poverty eradication, climate change to global cooperation to install peace in of the world !!!!!
So, let the perceptions be accurate!
Yours in the process of Accurate Perception
Dr. Nidhishree J S @Ni"dhyana"
An essay write up
Topic credit -UPSC
Chatgpt not used 😃
Thanks for reading
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