Perspective vs Perception - And Why the Difference Matters

~8-9 min read

Here’s the thing about perception: it’s as unique as your fingerprints. Other than providing the answer to life, the universe, and everything, Douglas Adams said this about perception: “Everything you see or hear or experience in any way at all is specific to you. You create a universe by perceiving it, so everything in the universe you perceive is specific to you.”

Albert Einstein would probably agree. He said, “Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.”

Perspective vs Perception

Your perspective is the lens through which you see the world around you. It’s essentially your vantage point from which you view an event or experience. It’s largely comprised of things you aren’t consciously aware of, or at least aren’t walking around actively thinking about. These would be factors such as where you were born, what year you were born, what family you were born into, your skin colour, gender, relative economic class, your educational background, and the unique and defining experiences throughout your life. In aggregate, these form your perspective or what you see what you look at the world. Lots of people may share similar aspects of their perspective. 

Your perception is how you interpret the world around you. It is the meaning you decode or infer from your perspective of an event or experience, including global and personal events, opinions, news, and circumstances. Perception is as unique as your fingerprints.

Essentially, your perception (what things mean to you) is informed by your perspective (your point of view).

So, where does reality fit in? Well, according to Einstein, reality is merely an illusion.

What is Objective Reality?

Perspective, perception, and objective reality are three vital concepts in the fight to bring greater nuance back into the fold and back into our conversations and interactions. Let’s use a simple example to illustrate why these concepts are vital.

This example may seem utterly devoid of nuance: there’s a glass on the table and it has a measure of liquid in it. Your perception tells you the glass is half full. Someone else’s perception tells them it’s half empty. The reality of this example is it’s a 12-ounce glass with 6 ounces of liquid. But is that truly the objective reality? There’s nuance here.

If you really lean into this example, the objective reality is simply that there is liquid in the glass. Humans created several arbitrary measuring systems to ascribe greater meaning to liquids. We did this so we could talk about liquid more universally, so we could perform experiments with greater complexity and purpose, so we could agree on measurements of liquid volumes. Millimetres, ounces, gallons, litres – none of these measurements exist in the physical reality of the universe. The only thing that can be considered objective reality in this example is the actual liquid these measuring systems describe.

Millimetres don’t exist in nature; millimetres exist in the collective perception of humanity because we agreed it was a good idea. Liquid is an undeniable objective reality of the universe. The meaning we ascribe to how much liquid is not objective reality because these units can be changed.

For example, I am Canadian – this is part of the lens through which I see the world...my perspective. When I look at liquid, I measure it with the metric system. My American friends to the south would look at the same liquid and measure it with the imperial system. We are both correct. That is, we are both correct until we proclaim that our perception of the liquid is correct and the other is incorrect. Then we are both wrong, in that we’re no longer talking about the physical reality of the universe anymore, we are proclaiming supremacy of our perceptions.

“Capital T, Truth”

Now let’s take this simple example to an infinitely more complex realm: today’s social landscape. Have you ever heard someone arguing vociferously, even violently, about “objective reality” or “Capital T, Truth” (perhaps a favoured phrase within the blogosphere)? What they are actually arguing is the meaning they have personally ascribed to circumstances or events. They are arguing their reality is correct. They are arguing that their perception is correct and should be the universal perception.

Everyone’s perception uniquely informs their own interpretation of the world around them. This is a vital distinction to internalize, especially when perception and reality don’t appear to agree, whether in the workplace, in life, on social media, on the blogosphere, or in comments sections everywhere. No, your perception may not appear to accurately reflect the objective facts of the case (according to someone else’s perception), but it doesn’t really matter. Your perception is your own reality, and therefore it informs your behaviour, opinions, beliefs, and actions. The facts of the case are less important than genuinely seeking to understand someone's interpretation of the facts of the case.

This is the golden opportunity to embrace nuance and create a deeper understanding of the human condition. Of course, this pursuit hinges on a shared understanding of the nature of perception and nuance.

Perceptions are informed by life experiences and other influences largely external to the situation – and also largely none of your business. If we want to commit to better conversations, greater nuance, and a deeper understanding of life on Earth, we have to first accept that perceptions are as unique as our fingerprints. There are nearly eight billion perceptions living, breathing, interacting, and trying to coexist with the other nearly eight billion perceptions on this planet.

Perception and the Human Condition

Our commitment to embracing the vast spectrum of the human condition is to reconcile differences in perceptions in a way that respects the experiences that have uniquely influenced these perceptions. Trying to understand someone from their own worldview is simply empathy. If you disagree with someone, maintain curiosity and respect for the influences that shaped their perception.

Seek validation from experts and credible sources to challenge your own perceptions – they may be wrong. Einstein knew that even his interpretations of the universe around him were influenced by his own perceptions. Perhaps we should also cut each other some slack.

And if all else fails, Douglas Adams offered another rather cosmic perspective. “The fact that we live at the bottom of a gravity well, on the surface of a gas covered planet going around a nuclear fireball 90 million miles away and think this to be normal is obviously some indication of how skewed our perspective tends to be.”