Are you really sure you see what’s there?
Or is your mind telling you 💩?
Especially when dealing with people.
Let me tell you a short story from a manga scene I read today which is a great example of perception gone wrong.
There’s a group of three people. Two of them know each other and the third one is new to the group. They just met and are going to complete a mission in a game.
Before they start the mission, one of the two challenges the new guy to show them how good he is.
He accomplishes it blazingly fast.
They regret having asked him, but they don’t say it.
And here’s where the whole perception thing of theirs left reality.
The guys just enjoyed the game and having a party mission.
He goes first and gives the pace for everything; out of fun.
He’s enjoying it.
But for his two companions, their internal mindfuck started. They started to believe he’s angry, etc
Every break they take, he’d do some exercise to improve his control of the game. Out of fun. Or better, the fun of playing and getting better.
And every time he does it, the minds of the companions go deeper into the rabbit hole of perceptions losing contact with reality.
They ASSUMED that he was angry and did everything out of anger, etc.
But it wasn’t the case.
It’s the classic.
We assume something about why the other does something.
But we don’t know if it is true.
Our assumption can be right or can be wrong or a manifold of variants in between.
But it’s just our assumption.
Assumptions based on our perception.
How could they have clarified it?
By asking.
They could’ve simply asked, “It seems to me that you’re angry about the incident, are you?”
And perception had been corrected and the mindfuck gone.
Think about it :-)