Our reality isn't objective – it's a meticulously constructed echo chamber, built from reinforcing beliefs of society we subscribe to. I'm not trying to be philosophical here. From the beginning of humanity, mechanisms hidden in plain sight have dictated our experiences and limited our potential. Let's uncover the profound ways our perception is being shaped.
To do that, we must first ask ourselves this, 'Could the 'reality' we inherit might just be an intricate illusion, crafted by our own mind?' It is like being in a room where every word you speak is immediately echoed back, louder and louder, until it's all you can hear.
We're all trapped, to some extent, in an echo chamber of perception, where our beliefs bounce back and reinforce themselves. We simply cannot see the world as it is. From birth, the ones close to us teach us how to perceive and react to the various stimuli around us.
As such, a child wants to be fed and feel secure. When it grows, exploration gets added to that small list. However, even before our body's natural intelligence has a chance to establish itself and learn from its mistakes, we're bombarded with what the people around us know. They impose their knowledge on us, restraining us to their level of expertise.
So then how have we managed to progress as a species while maintaining our sense of individuality?
The truth is terrifying and comforting at the same time. Let's see how.
You're free to be anything but you cannot sever your ties to society. You must pay your dues. The more you achieve, the more you pay. The more you grow professionally the more your personal life suffers. We cannot be truly free unless we break free from the subscribed society. But that would mean leaving security and advancements behind.
True freedom has vulnerability attached to it. So we compensate for our loss of freedom by forming a bubble that echoes the pros of being chained. Confirmation bias and selective attention amplify our stand, subtly twisting our observations. The added layer of deepfake technology makes it harder to discern reality. Political polarization and social media groups where people genuinely believe their perception is objective, reinforces our acquired beliefs.
Even then, our native intelligence pings us every now and then with what it feels is inherently good for us. This creates a cognitive dissonance. We try to justify our stand or change it. If none of those is doable, we get depressed. To cope, we must look at the facts. Given that we live in a virtual world, the algorithmic feedback loops muddy the informational waters constantly. And fact is once again handed down to us from someone else claiming to be an expert or is an influencer.
We walk the thin line between the status quo and genuine understanding. Perhaps true self-awareness is in accepting that we are living in a rigged system and we must do our best in the time we have to make the most of it.
Thank you,
-PB