Anais Nin once said, “We don’t see things as they are. We see them as we are.”
Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated how easily our senses can be fooled. We are susceptible to influences of which we are unaware, which can shape our perception and judgments. Consider, for example, the extraordinary optical illusion in a BBC video, “The Mind’s Eye”. As the narrator says,
It’s an astonishing example of how much our visual memories, our imaginations, can influence what is right in front of our eyes.
However, knowing our propensity for making these errors, we can be alert for them. Are you ready?
As a trainer of negotiation and conflict resolution skills, I love using optical illusions to demonstrate the fallibility of our perception. They alert us that our senses can be unreliable and susceptible to influence. And they remind us that it is always possible to see things differently. The ability to be alert to errors in thinking and judgment that any of us are prone to is of course essential to anyone who is negotiating or resolving a dispute.
Here are two optical illusions I was recently introduced to that I’ve incorporated into my training. Both of us these can be found at Michael Bach’s web site, 75 Optical Illusions & Visual Phenomena.
The first is Shepard’s “Terror Subterra”, a cool interactive illusion that demonstrates how perspective can bias us.
The second is Shepard’s “Turning the Tables”, an interactive illusion with tables that appear to be of different dimensions but are in fact identical, with the ability to test the visual effect for yourself. It’s extraordinary how knowing the truth doesn’t necessarily prevent us from making mistakes in our thinking.
They say you should believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see.
