Perception is the sensory experience of the world. Perception determines how individuals recognize and, at the same time, interpret the sensory information that is already received in the mind. It involves the response stimuli, both external and internal stimuli. Perception includes the senses like vision, sound, smell, taste and proprioception. Through these senses, people are able to understand the world around them and make sound decisions. Perception determines the level of restructuring the events that take place day by day and hence facilitates sound response to its demands.
On the other hand, reality refers to the true nature of things rather than imagination, invention or theoretical invention. The current scientific understanding of reality is built out of matter and energy that can make matter move, change form or interact with other matter. Therefore, in this essay, the concept of seeing and believing will be discussed fully, the concept of what people believe or perceive as real, all under the concept of perception versus reality as depicted in ‘Salvation’ and ‘Allegory of the Cave.’
Observing something directly provides evidence, which, in most cases, is referred to as a strong basis for belief. When an event is seen directly, it gives an impression of truthfulness and hence enables an individual to believe (Goldman 159). Sight is a sense of perception whereby visual perception plays a significant role in understanding the world. Vividly, seeing is truly next to believing. Visual stimuli create an immediate sense of trust. On many occasions, people become more confident in what they have already seen and hence end up believing the perceived information through their senses or channels. Common understanding is another element that most people arrive at through witnessing an event firsthand, which is a reliable way to verify its reality (Goldman 167). On the contrary, first perception can be deceptive through hallucinations and cognitive biases, which, in this case, alters the way of seeing things.
The optical illusions make an individual believe in things that may not correspond to the objective reality. Secondly, human vision is limited to a certain level and specific range. There are celestial events that are beyond the capacity of unaided eyes to perceive, which leads to a limited understanding of the broader reality. Individual differences in perception mean that people can interpret the same visual information differently (Hosle 80). Different perceptions imply that what one person may see may not be precisely what another person sees, leading to varied beliefs based on the same visual stimulus. Seeing can be a powerful form of evidence. Believing is based on the sight overlooks to complexities of perception, possible deception and the subjective nature of interpretation. Critical thinking, in addition to other forms of evidence, can be a well-known source of forming well-founded beliefs.
‘Salvation,’ by Langston Hughes, recounts personal experience from childhood. He attended revival meetings with the expectation of spiritual revelation and growth. On the contrary, when he does not experience the salvation he anticipated, he fabricates the conversion to avoid disappointing his aunt and the congregation at large (McKenzie 603). The story of Langston Hughes brings in the concept of conflict between the perception of religious expectation and the reality of personal experience. In this context, the protagonist perceives an expectation from his community to have a transformative spiritual experience. “Perception influences his actions, which leads him to make false conversion on the issue of salvation to his aunt.” The internal struggle and the doubts are contrary to the perceived communal and family expectations (McKenzie 603). This brings in the gap between the perceived and the experience, highlighting the difference between personal beliefs and societal expectations. The perception of the society is that Langton is going to be salvaged, while the reality is that he is not ready for salvation from the heart and mind.
‘Allegory of the Cave’ by Plato is a metaphor where prisoners are chained in a cave, facing the wall and can only see shadows that are projected by objects behind them. “When one of the offenders is exposed to the outside world, he realizes the illusions of the cave and gains the knowledge of a higher reality.” The allegory explores the dichotomy between the perceived reality of the cave and the true reality in the outside world from the cave (Debono 11). Prisoners in the cave perceive shadows as reality because it is the only world they know. It brings in the concept of limited sensory perception and the idea that what we see may not be the ultimate truth. Freeing some of the prisoners to realize the outside truths symbolizes the philosopher’s ascent in the knowledge of reality in the outside world (Hosle 69). The world outside represents the real forms, external and unchanging truths, which contrasts the deceptive shadows in the cave.
Salvation is a narrative that focuses on the religious perception of the reality nature of the person to receive salvation. The Allegory of the Cave is a philosophical allegory that explores broader concepts of reality and knowledge that intervene between perception and reality. They prompt readers to what they perceive, inviting them into the authenticity of their beliefs and the influence of societal expectations according to their understanding of truth. The reasons for evaluating evidence by analysis rely solely on visual perception.
Work Cited
Debono, Mark. “Lessons on knowledge transmission from Plato’s allegory of the cave: the influence of reason and companionship on transmissive and participatory pedagogies.” Ethics and Education 2023: 1–14.
Goldman, Alvin. “Reliabilism: what is justified belief?.” Arguing about knowledge. Routledge, 2020. 157–173.
Hosle, Paul. “The Allegory of the Cave, the Ending of the Republic, and the Stages of Moral Enlightenment.” Philologus 164.1 (2020): 66-82.
McKenzie, Renea. “Langston’s Salvation: American Religion and the Bard of Harlem by Wallace D. Best.” Christianity & Literature 69.4 2020: 601–604.
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