I once told a friend, “You know what, perception is greater than reality”. His reply a true classic, “Perception is Reality”.
To begin with, why should there be a difference between perception and reality. Shouldn’t they be a reflection of each other. Whilst this may be true in the sciences, it doesn’t apply to human beings. We perceive things first . Later we put together in our minds, what we think are facts to make it seem that our perception is justified. And most of us, no matter how hard we try find it difficult to change our perceptions.
Surprisingly, perceptions are viral in nature. They have the ability of taking on a life of their own and spreading until it becomes a reality. Some of the classic perceptions, many of which seem to defy the facts. Here are my favorite 5.
1. Congress is a secular party
The complete Congress part machinery shouts itself hoarse claiming themselves and their allies to be secular. Its strange considering that the Congress Party has several tie-ups with parties like the Muslim League, both historically and currently. Additionally many of their programs revolve around sops for the minorities. Their definition, which strangely no one has questioned revolves around, Secular is equal to non pro majority, or pro Hindu.
2. Nuclear weapons are dangerous in the hands of small countries
The facts are that the only nation to have ever used nuclear as well as chemical and biological weapons happens to be the US. And that too, whilst it was a superpower. So where does this perception come from. It comes from the US and its powerful allies talking about the dangerous possibilities of nuclear weapons and how rogue states could misuse it.
3. Bill Gates and Microsoft are greedy and want to dominate the world
Bill Gates is one of the worlds nicest and most generous person. He has distributed a large chunk of his enormous wealth (over 80%) to social causes all over the world. And unlike most philanthropists has shied away from taking credit, except to the extent of encouraging fellow entrepreneurs to join in supporting social causes.
4. All politicians are stupid, lazy, and corrupt
A large section of politicians are the smartest, most hardworking and honest people in our society. Whilst there is no doubt that a large section of politicians are corrupt, in my mind, the very nature of politics will prevent them from being either stupid or lazy. They have to be very smart and hardworking to be able to interact and satisfy their constituents, all of whom are highly demanding. As regards corrupt, whilst many are in all probability corrupt, the fact that so many good things happen seems to indicate that many of them would have to be honest. Another benchmark would be looking at their personal worth (Including close family). Many of them are worth less than you and me, inspite of having devoted their lives to working for our causes.
5. Indian are smarter than Americans
This is this perception that most urbanites have, especially families with Indian Americans. Two obvious facts disprove this immediately. The first is that If we were so smart, then we would be far ahead of the US, which by any benchmark we’re not. The second is that as a nation, neither our IQ or any other parameter indicate any mental advantage. The reason for this myth is probably the fact that Indians in the US outperform the locals. However the reason for this is obvious. The ones that go there are the smarter once, definitely in the top 10 percentile. Comparing them with the general population will give skewed results. Compare them with the top 10 percentile, and you may arrive at different conclusions.
So whats the conclusion. Since we can't change the fact that "Perception is Reality", we need to be careful that we consciously convey through our words and actions, aspects that reflect the truth as we perceive it and thereby would like to perceived.
To begin with, why should there be a difference between perception and reality. Shouldn’t they be a reflection of each other. Whilst this may be true in the sciences, it doesn’t apply to human beings. We perceive things first . Later we put together in our minds, what we think are facts to make it seem that our perception is justified. And most of us, no matter how hard we try find it difficult to change our perceptions.
Surprisingly, perceptions are viral in nature. They have the ability of taking on a life of their own and spreading until it becomes a reality. Some of the classic perceptions, many of which seem to defy the facts. Here are my favorite 5.
The complete Congress part machinery shouts itself hoarse claiming themselves and their allies to be secular. Its strange considering that the Congress Party has several tie-ups with parties like the Muslim League, both historically and currently. Additionally many of their programs revolve around sops for the minorities. Their definition, which strangely no one has questioned revolves around, Secular is equal to non pro majority, or pro Hindu.
The facts are that the only nation to have ever used nuclear as well as chemical and biological weapons happens to be the US. And that too, whilst it was a superpower. So where does this perception come from. It comes from the US and its powerful allies talking about the dangerous possibilities of nuclear weapons and how rogue states could misuse it.
Bill Gates is one of the worlds nicest and most generous person. He has distributed a large chunk of his enormous wealth (over 80%) to social causes all over the world. And unlike most philanthropists has shied away from taking credit, except to the extent of encouraging fellow entrepreneurs to join in supporting social causes.
A large section of politicians are the smartest, most hardworking and honest people in our society. Whilst there is no doubt that a large section of politicians are corrupt, in my mind, the very nature of politics will prevent them from being either stupid or lazy. They have to be very smart and hardworking to be able to interact and satisfy their constituents, all of whom are highly demanding. As regards corrupt, whilst many are in all probability corrupt, the fact that so many good things happen seems to indicate that many of them would have to be honest. Another benchmark would be looking at their personal worth (Including close family). Many of them are worth less than you and me, inspite of having devoted their lives to working for our causes.
This is this perception that most urbanites have, especially families with Indian Americans. Two obvious facts disprove this immediately. The first is that If we were so smart, then we would be far ahead of the US, which by any benchmark we’re not. The second is that as a nation, neither our IQ or any other parameter indicate any mental advantage. The reason for this myth is probably the fact that Indians in the US outperform the locals. However the reason for this is obvious. The ones that go there are the smarter once, definitely in the top 10 percentile. Comparing them with the general population will give skewed results. Compare them with the top 10 percentile, and you may arrive at different conclusions.
So whats the conclusion. Since we can't change the fact that "Perception is Reality", we need to be careful that we consciously convey through our words and actions, aspects that reflect the truth as we perceive it and thereby would like to perceived.
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