Think You Have a Good Grasp of Reality? Think Again.

Your Brain Is Lying to You

What you see is NOT what you get.

It’s what your brain decides to tell you. Light hits your eyes, data zips along, and your brain makes up a story. It can’t always be trusted.

In fact, your brain is lying to you right now.

Our field of vision, like a doughnut, has holes in it. It’s where the optic nerve and blood vessels leave the eyes, creating blindspots which our brain fills with educated guesses.

This is not a problem.

But sometimes the brain gets cocky or tired, and it misleads us.

I took my mom to the farmer’s market in Apex, a cute little town, where we ended up boutique hopping. At one point, I wanted to look at a pair of oversized earrings. I “saw” a glass front to the display case and asked for help. The puzzled salesclerk reached in and handed them to me.

Then it happened AGAIN, in another store.

My brain told me there was a glass wall between me and those earrings sitting 12 inches away. The salesclerk set me straight.

WTF, brain?!

And in a final optical brain fart, I failed to “see” that the person sitting at the next table was someone I knew. My brain had turned facial recognition off because I was in a strange place. Reality is only as accurate as our brain’s interpretation of the data.

The moral?

If how we perceive OBJECTS can be so easily warped, think how badly we get things wrong about HUMAN INTERACTIONS. Always assume positive intention, and be liberal with grace and compassion.

The earrings that taught me how to see reality.