As we develop, from a small baby, to a child, to a teenager and finally to an adult, not only do we develop on the outside (physically), but we also develop in the inside since we learn new things all throughout our life, things which stay recorded in one of the most fascinating organs in the humans system: the brain. It’s pretty obvious to state that each one of us, human beings, have our own perspective of the world or in other words we perceive the world in a different way. This is due to the different filters and perception methods each person experiences.
Let’s start by defining these two words. Perception can be defined as the process of absorbing information using our five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell), organizing and making sense of it. Filters are anything which influence the way each one perceives the world. There are various filters which we need to outline when discussing this statement The first filter is age. Throughout our life our mental capacity develops therefore a child might see different things than adults, since their brain (the organ which interprets what you see) is not fully developed.
A person’s gender also influences the way they see the world. Men have a different perception of the world in relation to women. For example the majority of men see Football as a fun sport and when they watch a match they find in intriguing the way 22 players run around a field playing with a ball and men even admire the technique used when playing this sport. On the other hand the majority of women find it incredibly boring and think that football is basically 22 crazy players running around a stupid ball. Race is another factor which alters the way people see the world.
Centuries ago it was believed that the Jews were “the chosen race”, however Hitler believed that the Jews were natural enemies of the “superior” and “chosen” Aryan race. This filter alters the opinion about people towards other people of different races. Past experiences also influences the way in which perceive the world. For example if someone has been robbed in London 3 times, that person might consider London a dangerous city whilst a person who has never been robbed can consider London one of the safest cities in the world.
It all depends on what you have experienced on a particular country or city. Weather can also be considered a filter. For example rain might be considered a gift from God for someone who lives in the Sahara desert on the other hand it might be considered a punishment to someone who is tanning at the beach. One thing gives rise to two different reactions. The way people are raised by their parents and their level of education can also influence the way each of us perceives the world.
Parents teach their children what they think is right but since each person has a different opinion about everything they will teach different things to their children. Someone might have heard that Hitler was a good person and since that person has a low level of education is ignorant about what happened he may see Hitler as a hero on the other hand someone who as a higher level of education and learned what Hitler did some decades ago will say that he was in fact a dictator and an evil human being.
Culture is also different throughout the world therefore it alters the way in which people perceive the world. What might be okay to do according to some religions might be prohibited by other religions. For example Muslims are against the comsumption of alcohol on the other hand other religions are not against it. Languages can also be considered filters of perception. Words have different meanings in different languages for example pain in english means bread in french therefore if you say “I feel pain” in France they’ll stare at you thinking you’re mad since you’ve just said “I feel bread”.
Nowadays there is a very important filter which is television. If someone in England is watching the news and sees a lot of violence in a particular country, that person may think that the country is violent on the otherhand the inhabitants of the same country might think the opposite since the television is just portraying a small, in this case bad image of the country. In a certain way it’s right to state that the television news affect the way you perceive the world.
I totally agree with the statement above since in my opinion I think that filters influence the way each of us perceives the world and the different filters is what makes each of one us have different thoughts and ideas. If everyone’s filters were the same, everyone would have the same opinion about a particular subject, which would be boring since we wouldn’t be able to have discussions in T. O. K lessons!