What does this quote mean? We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are. ?

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Anais Nin

Answer 1

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Everyone's perception is different.

Ever try explaining to someone blind what the color yellow looks like? Normally, teaching a child colors, you would point out a school bus or a dandelion, or a yellow m&m. But how would you describe it to someone who doesn't understand the concept of prisms and light.

Anyways, the quote means that when you describe something (idea, picture, belief), you are describing the way you see it through your eyes and your beliefs, not the way it is actually portrayed through non-biased eyes.


The "bias" comes from any prior knowledge or experience you may have with the topic you are discussing. For example, if you have a conversation with an immigrant from northern Europe about the american economy. You may describe how bad of a state we are in and that these conditions are "unbearable". "I mean how can someone survive in this state, you know". Then the person from Europe (who has escaped much worser times, and has finally escaped to America for the better life, after almost twenty years of hell) replies... "what are you talking about? I have food on my table and a warm bed to rest my head at night. I have fresh air rushing through my lungs. This is heaven".

Two people having the same conversation have two different points of views about the same topic. Just depends on what you have experienced.

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Thank you all!

Answer 2

maybe we do not see things for what they are, but what we want them to be? kinda just guessing.

Answer 3

Because all perception is influenced by the prior experiences of the person who is perceiving.

Answer 4

People don't see things past they're own two eyes.
We see things how we want them to be, not how they are.

Answer 5

If two car go down the street side by side, blue on the left and red on the right and you ask one person standing on the one side of the street and one standing on the other side which car is closest to you, they will each have a different answer. From their perspective, each answer is the right answer. Similarly, depending on where you are in life, you will see things differently than others.
Time is based on the rotation of the Earth. If the Earth stopped rotating and the Sun disappeared, would time still exist?