TaK - Perception

Sense perception and knowledge

Our senses connect us with the world around us

“Everyone takes the limits of their own field of vision for the limits of the world”

Schopenhauer

TaK - Perception

for a minute - be still ……What can you feel?

for another minute - be still ……What can you hear?

for a final minute - be still ……What can you smell?

TaK - Perception

Cosmic RaysX Rays

UV LightInfra Red

RadarTV & Radio

Frequency (Hz)

Visual Window

10 22 1020 1018 1016 1014 1012 1010 108 106 104 102 100

Our senses are limited: Light Waves

TaK - Perception

Highest Voice

Frequency (Hz)

Audio Window

10 22 1020 1018 1016 1014 1012 1010 108 106 104 102 100

Lowest Voice

Our senses are limited: Sound Waves

TaK - Perception

Bloodhound: “A nose with a dog attached”

• 230 million olfactory cells compared to 5 million in humans

• 1000 times better sense of smell than humans

• Have been known to be able to track a scent for over 100 miles

Our senses are limited: Smell

What is in the mind and what is in the world?

e.g. Think about physical sensation (Touch)….

• You plunge your hand into a bucket of ice cold water – for a moment you aren’t sure if it is hot or cold …

• You plunge your hand into a bucket of hot water – is the pain in your hand, or in your mind?

TaK - Perception

TaK - Perception

Sensation – which is provided by the world

Interpretation – which is provided by the mind(external stimuli + mental processes)

TaK - Perception

Interpretation: Understanding what we see - Coherence

TaK - Perception

In our everyday life, we are not usually aware of our minds interpreting the sensations

that flood into our senses ....

You are walking down a dark alley ... footsteps behind you …

Imagination, Context, Expectation and Sense Perception

affect the way we interpret sense data

TaK - Perception

Interpretation – finding meaning in what we see

TaK - Perception

Interpretation

TaK - Perception

Visual Grouping

TaK - Perception

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The mental construction of reality

TaK - Perception

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Sensory Perception is selective: What the eye saw….

TaK - Perception

TaK - Perception

Sensory Perception is selective: What the camera saw….

Awareness test

TaK - Perception

Person Swap

TaK - Perception

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” H.D. Thoreau

TaK - Perception

Look at the following and describe how they might be seen through the eyes of the following people:

1. A child dying in poverty as seen by a doctor, an economist, a social worker, the child’s father

2. A sunset as seen by a religious figure, a physicist, a painter, a farmer

3. A tree as seen by a biologist, a logger, an environmentalist, a carpenter

ToK - Perception

Sense Perception is an important source of knowledge but there are reasons for treating it with caution:

• We may misinterpret what we perceive• We may fail to notice something• We may misremember what we have perceived• Sensory perception is selective• Our senses have limitations• Experience creates expectations• Subjective factors – interests, moods – affect

sensory perception