Perspective: Navigating Perception and Reality

Perspective in Technology: Newman's Relationship with Siri and Autism

Hiking a trail can be unnerving if you’re not well prepared. It can often be disorienting and strenuous. However, the same is true for the opposite. It can be relaxing or stimulating. How we decide to look at a situation and react is our own perspective to have. No one person’s perspective is more true than another because it is individual and subjective. This is what people believe based on their life experiences.

I find Newman’s article, “To Siri with Love,” to be rather apathetic as a whole. In a time where technology can easily be exploited to constitute negativity, it’s rather alleviating to distinguish the positive effects it can evoke. Throughout this article, Newman describes her relationship with her son as, more or less, a lot to manage. Using the Artificial Intelligence, her already inquisitive son is able to ask his questions to Siri, which, in turn, helps develop conversational skills and deepens his ability to understand social cues. For about an hour, her son was parsing the differences between thunderstorms with Siri, and Newman states, “an hour in which, thank God, I didn’t have to discuss [it with him].” (EA 1017). It is clear that she loves her child immensely, but sometimes too many questions can be a bit much. She sets the tone of another situation by saying, “My head was about to explode if I had to have another conversation about tornadoes…” He finishes with relief by saying, “Why don’t you ask Siri?” (EA 1019). She uses these anecdotes to subtly accentuate the personal level of difficulty she has with raising a child with autism while indirectly confessing her gratitude for Siri.

Perception vs. Reality: Navigating the Philosophical Enigma

I think this approach to technology is interesting, and it kind of hints at an underlying sense of perspective. However, the fundamental problem of whether we can know reality is something theologians have been debating throughout history. In many cases, this is more than a problem; I would describe it as an enigma. By this, I mean, is it even ethical to answer a question that is different from each person’s perspective? You may hear people say, “Perception is reality.” This aphorism is often used to justify a perception that may be objectively unjustifiable. It is used as a way to coerce others into one specific way of thinking. To be more philosophical, this adage creates a sense of relativism in circumstances that are oftentimes more absolute. It would be impossible for me to describe perception without first discerning that perception is not reality.

Here is a dictionary definition of perception:

“The way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression.”

And here is the dictionary definition of reality:

“The world or the state of things as they actually exist… existence that is absolute, self-sufficient, or objective, and not subject to human decisions or conventions.”

Evidently, perception and reality have very different meanings. Perception occurs solely in the mind, where any belief can be turned into reality, while reality is separate from the mind and can’t be as easily manipulated. To conflate perception with reality is to reject the Enlightenment and return to a time of ignorance.

Quest for Clarity: The Tenuous Interplay of Perception and Reality

Perhaps there is some way of thinking or path of action that can lead all sentient beings to know a conceivable “truth” of reality. This leads me to ask how knowing this will be any sort of addition to our perspective. I say this conundrum of conceptual reality is an enigma because what we think we know now is different from what we thought we knew yesterday and what we think we know tomorrow. In this sense, how is anyone able to know this truth, let alone define it consciously? As we begin to question what reality is, we learn more about ourselves and our perceptions of life; we begin to question ourselves, and we slowly learn what reality means to us as individuals.

Perception is not reality, but, admittedly, perception can become a person’s reality because perception is extremely influential on how we look at reality. Think of it this way. Perception acts as a lens through which we view reality. Our perceptions influence how we focus on, process, remember, interpret, understand, synthesize, decide, and act on reality. In doing so, our tendency is to assume that how we perceive reality is an accurate representation of what reality truly is. But it’s not. The problem is that the lens through which we perceive is often warped in the first place by our genetics, past experiences, prior knowledge, emotions, self-interest, and cognitive distortions.

I believe reality is possible to understand. I believe we are on a path to becoming more aware of our current position on all ambiguous topics, though I know it may take a long time to achieve that. First, we must trust our minds to think intellectually and learn to recognize and push past the ignorance drilled into us. However, I also believe that the idea of reality is based on what a person experiences throughout his life. He may not have to be philosophically inclined to identify what reality is to him. Part of me wishes there was a clear and definite answer, but the other part is glad that I am struggling to understand. I would say I lack the experience and time spent reading or thinking about this to be confident in giving an answer. I also wonder if answering this would really lead me to believe that what I think is what is right or if it even has to be. Maybe I can imagine the epiphany of becoming aware of my beliefs on reality, but for now, I am content in being discontent with my ideas of these things. In time, I will debate and dismantle it all, assuming I live to see that day.

References

1. Berger, J. (1972). Ways of Seeing. Penguin UK.
2. Kuhn, T. (1962). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. University of Chicago Press.
3. Merleau-Ponty, M. (2012). Phenomenology of Perception. Routledge.
4. Dennett, D. C. (1991). Consciousness Explained. Little, Brown.
5. Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. University of Chicago Press.
6. Newman, J. (2017). To Siri with Love: A Mother, Her Autistic Son, and the Kindness of Machines. HarperCollins.
7. Heidegger, M. (1962). Being and Time. Harper & Row.

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