TECHNOLOGY: HOW IT’S CHANGING OUR PERCEPTION AND REALITY
Another’s perception is your reality, and with the aid of technology, the way we present ourselves online is how the collective would discern our current reality.
Since Covid-19, the world rapidly adapted to a new way of living. This pandemic ceased any human interaction causing the world to start “Living, Learning & Working on the Web”. By transitioning to an online lifestyle, I witnessed a global village forming, it gave me the chance to create, express, comprehend and vocalise my opinions and thoughts on a global scale without restriction. Since then, the way I viewed, vocalised and comprehended drastically changed. Everything I read had a for and against. But how did I perceive this?
PERCEPTION VS REALITY
Technology enables individuals to create an online persona in which we can hide behind to protect ourselves from possible scrutiny. Today, technology makes it easy for creators to distort their reality to portray the “perfect” image for the world to perceive. The idea that we can make anything ‘perfect’ on our own accords makes it easier to fool the collective’s perception of our reality.
Just think about it….
If I take the ‘best photo’ + editing + the perfect caption = the perfect deception of my reality.
All anyone is doing is creating the perfect moment to obscure our imperfect ones. Does this make the individual more confident? Yes, it does. Does this make the individual a liar or a “catfish”? That’s the question we need to discover for ourselves.
Have you ever had the thought that you’re giving a misconstrued version of your reality? Nothing is ‘truly perfect’, I mean aren’t you creating your experience through a screen?
Over the pandemic, I finished year 12 online. All I saw was what was on the screen in front of me. From the news to Tiktok, every post I viewed became my reality. As we all quarantined for an extensive period of time, technology became an integral part of my life. Viewing the world through a screen distorted my perception of the world.
By purely viewing the ongoing events, I forgot what “real life” was like, I was assuming how reality felt. In this period of time, technology made me assume my surroundings.
The saying “seeing is believing” became a driving force behind an individuals comprehension of current events. From the Black Lives Matter Protests to the Anti-Quarantine riots; to a certain extent, we needed to see it to believe it. My beliefs and morals played a major part in these events. For BLM, my perception of the event was somewhat my reality, technology wasn’t needed to convince me it was a pressing issue. But for the doubters, they needed to experience the event to alter their perception to understand a collectives reality.
Remember that your perception of the world is a reflection of your state of consciousness. — Eckhart Tolle
After experiencing the storm of 2020, I can confidently say that my perception of the world changed. It showed me that life is unpredictable, full of opportunities and most of all a never-ending education. The lesson I’ve acquired is that you can choose to believe the bias of the collective and have your ideologies of the world morphed into what ‘they’ tell you. But choosing to experience your reality, you will be able to experience the world in a new light.
As technology evolves so does our perception and reality, but it’s up to you to choose what side of life you want to choose.
So that’s how technology changed my perception of the world; how has it changed yours?
