Cognitive Optical Illusions, Differences in Interpreting Reality

By Hamda AlHashemi (@Hamda_AlHashemi)

You know that moment when different people tell you the same story but there is a different version every time you hear it? Is it because they are making it up, or are they lying about it? Sometimes words can play the effect of optical illusion; every person has a different way of thinking, therefore we each comprehend situations in our own way.  The mixture of personal thoughts, circumstances, and the people involved might be misleading.

According to Wikipedia, optical illusion is characterized by visually perceived images that differ from objective reality. There are three main types: physical, literal, and cognitive. Cognitive optical illusion is probably the one that reflects the ideas that I will discuss most in this article; it is the result of an individual’s unconscious mind.

We have all probably wondered about that scene in a movie when a therapist shows his patient a paper with black and white shapes. The reason why they do that sort of therapy is to analyze the thoughts, characteristics, and nature of the patient. It allows the therapist to understand the mentality of his patient and how to deal with him/her.

Sometimes you may say something very nice to a friend with the best of intentions, but they might completely misunderstand you and feel insulted. There are many possible reasons for your words being misinterpreted; maybe that friend was in a bad mood and took everything negatively, maybe it is a habit of them to take everything personally. It could be that you expressed it in a wrong way.

That situation is very similar to the concept of optical illusion. We might all look at the same image but I might see it as a wolf and you might see it as a butterfly. The way we interpret that image is a hint of what is going on in our unconscious mind.  Happy thoughts reflect cheerful interpretations, and vise versa.

Jim Jeffords, former U.S senator, once said, “I do not know anyone in the public eye who has not made a mistake and said something in a manner that does not truly reflect their intentions. “ Even our best intentions can be misunderstood. And the same goes for others; we might be misapprehending a lot of their words and actions.

The only way to solve that is to try our best to be less judgmental and give others a chance to communicate with us thoroughly. We need to listen to their words and visualize their actions objectively. Our emotions and mentality frequently gets in our way and blurs the truth.

Abu Baker AlSiddiq, one of the Rashidun Caliphates, said a short phrase that sums up the entire article, “Your intentions count in your actions.” As long as you honestly mean well, then your actions should show that. There are people who will always be skeptical of what is behind everything you do or say, but there is no need to take them seriously or give them the attention they crave for. Instead, keep proving them wrong and no matter how skeptical they are, the important thing is that you know deep inside that you mean well.

 23^rd Issue – February 2012
Here We Start – Art of Living 101 – Beyond Inspiration
First Years Last Forever – Scenes from Our Lives – Society of Tomorrow
The Mind’s Eye – To The Point – Words, Observations, and Ramblings