OJ’s rants What would OJ do?

The Issue of Perception

What is Perception?

As cheesy as it sounds, I'm going to start off with a definition ripped straight off Dictionary.com:

per·cep·tion

–noun

1. the act or faculty of apprehending by means of the senses or of the mind; cognition; understanding.
2. immediate or intuitive recognition or appreciation, as of moral, psychological, or aesthetic qualities; insight; intuition; discernment: an artist of rare perception.
3. the result or product of perceiving, as distinguished from the act of perceiving; percept.
4. Psychology. a single unified awareness derived from sensory processes while a stimulus is present.
5. Law. the taking into possession of rents, crops, profits, etc.

Take a moment to digest the meaning of the word. Can you see how subjective it is? One's perception varies greatly depending on the observer. The motivation of the observation is also going to skew how one is perceived. The relationship one has with the observer is also going to impact how that observer perceives you.

Finally, it's important to note that what was perceived and any point in time is not necessarily the same as what actually occurred.