Previous experience: conversations like this brought criticism.
The story forming
“I've done something wrong.”
They feel uneasy and start preparing a defence.
Explore concepts 11 pictures
Concepts / 01 / Perception
Your model of the world.
Are you aware that this is your model of the world?
Select a label to explore.
Experience shapes what we expect next. New information gives us a chance to update.
Beliefs
The beliefs I have learned influence what I expect and how I interpret what happens. They form part of the model I carry within me.
A visual metaphor for perception: the world outside, and my experience of it within.
The idea behind it
The cage
of language.
One idea I took from studying neuro-linguistic programming has stayed with me: my beliefs act as filters. Culture, language and learning shape the model of the world I carry around.
I think we still live in the cage of language. We experience the world through ourselves. How much of what feels obvious to me comes from the model I've learned?
Then we take that model into the world and superimpose it on other people. We fight with them, each convinced that our own interpretation is reality.
The same event. Two experiences.
“Everyone's watching
their own Netflix show.”
Previous experience: conversations like this led to collaboration.
The story forming
“They want my input.”
They feel curious and start thinking about ideas.
The next message
“I'd like your advice on an idea.”
New information gives both people a reason to revise their first interpretation.
An illustrative example. Each response is one possibility.
What have I assumed?
What would change my mind?
Notes & reading
This is my way of thinking about experience, influenced by NLP. The diagram is a conceptual simplification. Perception involves interacting sensory and cognitive processes; the scientific studies below examine specific parts of that picture.
- National Eye Institute: How the eyes workHow light is converted into electrical signals and processed as vision.
- Kok, Jehee & de Lange (2012): Expectation and visual perceptionAn experiment showing that expectation can alter representations in the primary visual cortex.
- Winawer et al. (2007): Russian bluesEvidence that language categories can affect performance on a colour-discrimination task. The effects depend on the task and its conditions.