Perception and Reality

One concept that I found particularly interesting was the methods that brain uses for perceiving the world. While our perceptions can often seem like an exact depiction of our surroundings, the brain uses a variety of techniques and shortcuts to reconstruct our environment in ways that are largely beneficial. However, these methods can be potentially misleading at times, leading to the observation of nonexistent differences, shapes, or patterns, as well as a variety of other potential consequences. The brain can also perceive information subliminally. While it seems unlikely that subliminal messages can have lasting significant effects on a person's actions and behaviors, I found it interesting that a stimulus can be observed without conscious perception of it. Additionally, I was especially fascinated with the studies concerning individuals who underwent operations in which they had their corpus callosum severed. These individuals were unable to consciously recognize an image when shown to their left field of vision, yet were still able to draw the image with their left hand without being able to identify why they had drawn that image. In five years, I believe that I will likely remember what I learned about perception in this course.