People learn a lot.
They learn from observing other people. From being involved in situations. From reading books. From listening to descriptions from the radio. From watching TV. Etc. Etc. Etc.
They listen, and they see; they make connections between words and images, and they learn.
People learn a lot, and they think that they know a lot. Therefore when presented with certain images that fit certain facts, they make assumptions.
But how true are those assumptions?
…Sometimes, things are not all that they seem to be:
Is that a frog, or is it a horse?
lol.
There are so many other visual tricks combined with ‘ingrained’ knowledge that do the same; fool people into thinking that something is what they’re not.
Like how built-in perceptions make people think that ‘13′ is ‘B’ just because it comes between ‘A’ and ‘C’. Or how ‘B’ is mistaken for ‘13′ when it comes within a row of numbers on the ground of a parking lot.
Like how the Ames room illusion still takes so many people in because they assume that all rooms are rectangular and all furnishings that look alike are the same size.
People see, then people dredge up preconceived connections between image and knowledge, then people judge.
But people can fail at judging; people can get things… not right.
You don’t stop learning just because you know something. There’s always something to add on to that something, and more to connect with that after you compile a whole dictionary on the damned thing.
…So the moral of my little ramble here is… look at things carefully before you tell others what you think it is. Don’t jump into conclusions before seeing the whole picture. Wait to listen to the whole story before you judge anyone by anything. And look up the Ames room illusion =D it’s interesting.
(that wasn’t the real point of my writing, of course… or rather, it is, but I left out a huge chunk of personal connections with the whole issue just because I can’t be bothered to write it ALL down. The essential moral of the story would still be the same. Kinda. I might continue this another time if I get philosophical and lyrical-waxing enough.)
p/s: MCACers Chris and David (especially Chris), you guys rock. I haven’t met many people who got to know me so well in as little time as you guys took to do so. Seriously. And I bet you don’t even know it, since–face it, you don’t know about this blog, and you don’t know that what you say strikes home… thank god for that =D
