The mind percieves what it wants to percieve

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the nature of perception and reality, exploring the idea that individual minds perceive reality differently based on personal focus and attention. Participants consider implications for mental health, communication, and shared experiences.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant argues that the mind perceives what it wants to perceive, suggesting that individual realities can differ significantly.
  • Another participant questions how perception works and what predictions can be made about shared experiences, such as counting fingers.
  • A participant notes that certain mental illnesses and hallucinogens can alter perception, while acknowledging uncertainty about healthy individuals' perceptions.
  • One contributor emphasizes that illusionists manipulate focus and attention, indicating that perception can be influenced by current thoughts.
  • Another participant challenges the idea of completely subjective perception by stating that communication requires some level of compatibility between minds.
  • One participant asserts that once a perception is decided upon, the mind modifies other perceptions to align with that decision.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the extent to which perception is subjective versus shared, with no consensus reached on the implications of these ideas.

Contextual Notes

Some statements rely on assumptions about mental health and perception that are not fully explored, and the discussion includes various interpretations of shared versus individual realities.

JamesU
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I am having an argument with someone else, and I want to see what you guys think.

I believe that the mind perceives what it wants to percieve, and that your reality could be completely different than someone elses. for example:

in person A's mind, or reality, he is talking to person B. however, his mind perceives this act in it's own way, meaning that person B, in their reality, could be miles off talking to a person C.

everyone has their own reality. and everyone's is different. My IM buddy says I'm nuts
 
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he's starting to make me mad:

Zelos says:
i have to congratulate u james
Zelos says:
uve succefully shown that americans are more stpid than i ever dared to imagen
 
How do you think perception works? What is it that you're perceiving?

Since this is in biology instead of philosophy, what predictions does your theory make? If you hold up two fingers in front of a group of people and ask them how many fingers you're holding up, what answers would you expect to get?
 
Well, in the case of certain mental illnesses, it would be true that perception of reality is altered. Hallucinogens would also have such an effect.

As for healthy, non-drug treated people...well, we really don't know, do we? Though, the example you're giving is more one of what are we paying attention to and noting, not whether two people looking at the same thing are perceiving it differently.
 
I believe that the mind perceives what it wants to percieve

That is true. Many illusionists disturb your focusing/attention and make their game. Brain is able to discard from a scene many important things depending of your thought at the moment.
 
yomamma said:
I believe that the mind perceives what it wants to percieve...
If this is true, how come I can still percieve your posts?
 
yomamma said:
I am having an argument with someone else, and I want to see what you guys think.

I believe that the mind perceives what it wants to percieve, and that your reality could be completely different than someone elses. for example:

in person A's mind, or reality, he is talking to person B. however, his mind perceives this act in it's own way, meaning that person B, in their reality, could be miles off talking to a person C.

everyone has their own reality. and everyone's is different. My IM buddy says I'm nuts


That cannot be entirely true, because both brain must be compatable enough to communication to each other using language.
 
You perceive what u want to, and once u decide this, your mind will modify anything else
 

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