Friday, September 19, 2008

Is life a distortion...?

I have been visited by strange thoughts these few days. Among the thought that has being playing on my brain is `perception.' The word perception has been playing on my thinking for quite a while now. As usual I have no problem in handling the situation. I write.


Perception has become close and intimate to me since I took teaching as my profession. Year in and year out the explanation is none other this. Perception has three components: the selective attention, the selective distortion, and the selective retention. Often I say this to the students, don't force upon you to like me if your background in the perceptual process would say otherwise. And the same applies to me, my preference of someone or something is well being determined by my past experiences. As such, I have only one sight, one hearing, one liking, and one understanding, when facing someone face-to-face. Nevertheless, it would be a different story if you give me sometime to think on something or someone. The depth thinking would make me observed things differently. So I would say we can be very emotional when facing someone face-to-face. The reason can be traced to one's development of perception. Thinking of someone from afar, it would be different. The interpretation can be more logical.


That is what perception in the English language. How would you explain it in Malay? Easy. In the form of equation:


Persepsi = Tersekat + Terlekat + Tersesat


We are what we have been exposed to for a long time, and as a result of the familiarity, we developed a pseudo-world that seems to be very real. That is the reason why we feel more comfortable when we are at home and among familiar faces.So next time you find yourself far away from home, give time to adjust and slowly you would like the place. This is because perception wears off after you are expose to a different place long enough to realize life is a distortion. Is it?

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