Do you believe that perception is reality?

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 16:38:53 -0500

I have heard perception is reality, mostly from EO, but is it really? Or is it something else?

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2015 4:49 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 16:49:39 -0500

Yes perception is enough to charge people for EO/SHARP complaints... We just had an E6 get busted down to E5 for perception from a Facebook message.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2015 4:52 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 16:52:40 -0500

Maybe not true, but perceived to be true by others. No issue in personal life, but maybe not so at work.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2015 4:58 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 16:58:38 -0500

Sir,
Yes, perception is reality, just like first impressions are hard to change and individuals will be judged by the company they choose to keep. If an individual portrays a specific persona or is caught in a precarious situation it will reflect in the perception others have on them.

Take for example the recent report of the SOCOM LTG that was caught in a situation where he said things that he normally would not. However, if you read just the headline, not the full article and do not know him (which I do not) you could perceive that he is not someone you want to work for.

Response by SSgt Terry P. made Dec 19 at 2015 4:59 PM

SSgt Terry P. — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 16:59:25 -0500

LTC Private RallyPoint Member I agree with 1LT Scott Doyle almost everyone perceives differently,so reality is something different for each of us.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 19 at 2015 5:04 PM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:04:27 -0500

I believe in Self Fulfilling Prophecy.

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Dec 19 at 2015 5:17 PM

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:17:23 -0500

There are many cases I can think of where perception is CREATED by the person. It's not difficult to portray yourself as incompetent and lazy, for example. If you take actions to create that perception, it's your own doing. And when everyone in your unit sees you that way, it becomes reality -- and it's very hard to undo the damage of something like this.

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Dec 19 at 2015 5:31 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:31:06 -0500

Mirroring your original post with the Google reference, I'll just highlight that Google now ranks RallyPoint's answer as the authority on this, at least for the military, so does that mean that whoever has the highest ranked response to this question really defines reality?

Response by LTC Yinon Weiss made Dec 19 at 2015 5:36 PM

LTC Yinon Weiss — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:36:47 -0500

When it comes to inter-personal relationships, perception often drives consequences as much as true reality does. However, the blanket statement of "perception is reality" cannot be true... the German Army could have had the perception that they were winning WWII in late April 1945, but that would not have changed the reality that Berlin was about to be taken and the entire government was about to fall. Truth is ultimately more important than perception. For example, a unit that perceives that they are doing well, but are actually failing, does not lead to more success, it leads to catastrophic failure.

Perception is how we view and interact with the world, which causes real world consequences, but that doesn't mean that perception and reality are the same.

Response by Capt Seid Waddell made Dec 19 at 2015 5:53 PM

Capt Seid Waddell — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 17:53:00 -0500

No. Perception is merely an attitude or an assumption. Reality is hard and fast - not open to modifications to suit one's preferences.

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 19 at 2015 7:07 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 19:07:56 -0500

To use an analogy -
Perception is to Reality as Fact is to Opinion.
Perceptions, like opinions, FEEL true to the person having them.
Reality, like facts, are proven to exist through empirical evidence.

The notion that perceptions and opinions can be conflated as truths gives us all sorts of crazy BS in society... I think I'll stop there, since I know each of you can come up with myriad examples.

Response by MAJ Jim Woods made Dec 19 at 2015 9:24 PM

MAJ Jim Woods — Sat, 19 Dec 2015 21:24:12 -0500

Perception is simply that which a person genuinely believes to be true, “perception of reality”. It varies with each individual.

Response by SFC Joseph Weber made Dec 20 at 2015 6:28 AM

SFC Joseph Weber — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 06:28:32 -0500

My wife is constantly telling me that my perception of myself is nowhere near reality. I am starting to wonder if she actually exists.

Response by Capt Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 20 at 2015 8:13 AM

Capt Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 08:13:55 -0500

Perception and reality may be totally opposite. BUT, if one ignores either one will find trouble.

Politicians and the media, play with your perception all of the time. That is why we have such polarized views of any situation.

Response by CPT Jack Durish made Dec 20 at 2015 1:09 PM

CPT Jack Durish — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 13:09:10 -0500

The famous televangelist, Dr. Robert H. Schuller, once posited that "I am not who I think I am. I am not who you think I am. I am who I think you think I am." Now there's a thought to keep you perplexed for a while. I've worked on it for several decades since first hearing it and have concluded that it is largely true (and largely a corollary of the principle you challenged us with: in other words, reality is perception)

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Dec 20 at 2015 2:16 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 14:16:50 -0500

Sometimes it is as:
1. We see what we want to see
2. Our experiences will allow us to see somethings and others not
3. Sometimes our minds terribly tuned and we lack the wherewithal to see the truth

Response by Vit Spirek made Dec 20 at 2015 3:25 PM

Vit Spirek — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 15:25:12 -0500

perception is only connection with reality

(we are with or without connection from our point of view)
the connection is relatively tiny

when it is better then we talk about wide-perception

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 21 at 2015 10:15 AM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 10:15:20 -0500

Perception is not reality, but perception is the only thing that matters. You may be the most brilliant and capable leader in the world but if you subordinates think you're an idiot, than you're and idiot.

Response by COL Charles Williams made Dec 21 at 2015 11:39 PM

COL Charles Williams — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 23:39:20 -0500

Yes

Response by 1LT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 22 at 2015 10:16 AM

1LT Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 10:16:39 -0500

For those who are interested, Lt COL Reggie Yager*, wrote a great paper about the things that need to change about our perception of this "reality." It's a bit lengthy, but you can gather a lot of information within the table of contents and the abstract. http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2697788

*Deputy Director, Office of Legal Policy,Office of Under Secretary of Defense, Personnel & Readiness (OUSD-P&R),

What's Missing from Sexual Assault Prevention and Response by Reggie D. Yager :: SSRN

This article examines the sexual assault prevention and response (SAPR) policy in the military over the last few years. Although focused primarily on the milita