Humans Senses and Perceptions Essay -- Neurology Biology

Humanity is blessed with at least five senses with which we observe and perceive our surroundings. Although our senses, and sense perceptions indeed are amazing, the knowledge gained by these faculties is sometimes misleading. The reason why our senses, at times, err is twofold, first the sensory organs we are endowed with are not entirely accurate, and are not equipped to perceive and measure all information. The second reason for errors in perception is that we all interpret the data we revived via there organs differently. As Penelope Fitzgerald puts it, â€Å"No two people see the external world in exactly the same way. To every separate person a thing is what he thinks it is -- in other words, not a thing, but a think.† The combination of imperfect sensory organs, selective perception and varying interpretations of the sense data we receive accounts for this â€Å"err.† To begin with, our eyes do not â€Å"see† as clearly as we think they do. The actual raw image coming from our eyes is upside down, blurry and interlaced with blood vessels. Then, our mind corrects this image and fills in the gaps with whatever it presumes to be correct. However, our brain's perceptions of what is correct varies greatly. Despite this the question assumes that our senses are perfect, which they are clearly not. I would contend that it is because we only have eyes to see with and ears to hear with that we err; because we only have these faculties our brain must compensate, and everyone compensates differently. Society is fascinated by the flaws in our perception, using it for entertainment, and more recently in advertisements. The advertising industry is able to manipulate images and words in order to create the desired perception of the product. In this... ...( hearing and site) as the foundation for knowledge about the world around us. Works Cited "Philosophy: Philosophy of Perception."  ORIENTALIA | Journal of Eastern Philosophy & Culture: Papers, Dictionaries, Forum, Books Reviews. Web. 15 Jan. 2011. . "Psychology Notes : Sensation and Perception."  AlleyDog.com - Psychology Students' Best Friend. Web. 15 Jan. 2011. . Chisholm, Roderick. "Gettier Problems - Page 4 - Philosophy - Wattpad."  The World's Most Popular EBook Community . Web. 15 Jan. 2011. . "3 Quotations from Penelope Fitzgerald."  Linguaspectrum - Interesting English Lessons!  Web. 15 Jan. 2011. .