This past week has been a turbulent, distraught, and difficult time for some. Saying your final goodbyes to your loved ones is never easy. Neither is trying to save the world from mad scientists a la James Bond.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/science/29collider.html?pagewanted=1&_r=2.
But, for the rest of the world, it was just another week, with just a memorial service for the folks at 9/11. What happened to the end of the world?
Our perceptions color our reality, and for those who perceived the end of the world, it was probably a harrowing escape. And for those of us that didn’t, well... I know I had a crappy quiz over the weekend that I thought signaled the end of my world.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article4727903.ece
But for this girl, the threat was reality, due to her perception of it being so.
Perception occurs automatically, sometimes without control. When you were reading about those articles on the end of the world, what reality did you perceive?
But how does perception affect our communication?
I was from an all Chinese school, so my contact with the other races had been limited. When I went to college, I was introduced to my Indian project group member. Having been exposed to some rather nasty racial stereotypes, and not really having any experiences with our racial neighbors, my perception of Indians was rather negative.
For our first few meetings and discussions I was rather antisocial, refusing to speak to him unless necessary, and even then only what was required. But after some time, I noticed the positives about him, and began to interact with him. I became more open, and communicated comfortably with him. That was how my perception of a group member affected how I communicated and worked with him.
Do you have similar experiences? Share them!
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1 comment:
perception definitely affects communication, because the manner and frequency in which we interact with someone depends on how much we like them, which is based on the way we perceive them!
an example would be if you hear bad stuff about someone, you might stay away from that person without ever talking to them and finding out what they're really like, cause you already have a negative perception of them! or say, if you're physically attracted to another, you'd try to talk more to that person, and get them to notice you. you might also go out of your way to be nice so that they'd have a positive perception of you too!
i think that although people try not form perceptions too soon, it's something in us which cannot be helped, but we should be aware of how these perceptions influence us in our communication.
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