Perception

I want to get back to aspects of our thought processes that apply to writing and certainly to the basic nature of our daily existence and interaction with others. There is no more basic process or phenomena than that of perception. In fact, it may not be possible to do this concept (the other side of the percept coin) justice in writing or in any other modality. Still, like so many other people before, that won't stop me from trying.

In preparing for this post I pulled out my favorite dictionary, Websters New Collegiate Dictionary published in the 1950's. Largely untainted by contemporary political correctness, it more often than not addresses difficult words with a refreshing directness. Here are aspects of perception as defined by that dictionary:

1. Awareness of objects; consciousness.
2. a. Direct acquaintance with anything through the senses, or, b. the process of seeing or hearing.
3. An immediate or intuitive cognition or judgment, often implying nice observation or subtle discrimination. Also, the power of having or exercising such perceptions.
   

Just consider the implications of those three statements. Of course, the biggest 800 lb. gorilla is the term, cognition. That I will leave for another day, or three.

Our world, our existence, is largely defined by the personal awareness of objects around us as conveyed by our combined sense of sight, hearing, taste, touch, smell, and intuition. I say personal, for it has become abundantly clear over the years that none of us apprehend the world in exactly the same way as any other person. In our combined perception of the world, therefore, we are, all of us, truly unique. While uniqueness is highly prized, it isn't hard to take that concept one step farther and conclude that we are all in the truest sense, aliens. In the truest sense, we can never fully understand another person's view of the world. But I don't want to wander off into the foggier aspects of cognition. Let's just leave that sleeping dog lie for now with the parting shot: How can life ever be boring?

In writing, we call on our archive of perceptions, combine them with conclusions regarding the nature and course of life, massage that concoction with imagination, call on our brain to do something with it, and at some point begin typing. And so perception takes on an alternate reality as a part of the process of creation. That's what I truly enjoy about writing science fiction--perception is not limited to that which is observed or intuited from our object world. In my case, what appears to Jeff and Carl on Aketti as object reality based on terran experance is not necessarily that at all.

What I'm getting at here is that our expectations of reality based on experience often, perhaps far too often, alter the actual perceptual field open to us and thus to one degree or another impoverish our cognitive lives. What would life be like if we could simply accept what we sense without editing those perceptions with our expectations based on experience? It would be phenomenal!

This is another word that I love. The best and simplist defintion I have found for phenomena is, "The thing as it is." How beautiful. Simply accepting something as it is. Just that, no more. Looking at it, perceiving it, intuiting it, as it is without further interpretation or editing. What better way to write science fiction than in this state of mind. You might ask, "How, then, can things be different on a new world if we accept everything we sense? How can they not be if we examine what we perceive here on Earth as phenomena. Actually, who needs to go to a different world to find new beauty and inspiration? Well, I do. It's too much fun.