Perception

Prompt: Perception

By saying that objective perception is impossible, Gorgias was, in a sense, correct. The average person automatically sees an object or point of view from his or her own perspective, putting their own feelings and knowledge into the situation. For instance, at the mention of racism, an individual generally instantly draws conclusions, including their own opinions on the matter. By using objective perception, the individual would simply see it as a term with a definition, without emotion behind it. Socrates, therefore, agreed that it was in fact, unlikely, however, he did not say impossible.

In my personal opinion, when I think about the term "racism" the concept that forms between people, particularly in which race is based, does not automatically come to thought. I instantly imagine two racially diverse groups of people bumping heads, which of course most commonly comes down to blacks and whites in our society. Personally I am not a racist person, however, when I hear this term, certain stereotypes immediately come to mind, such as: slaves, slave owners, and the Ku Klux Klan from our own countries dark history. The only thing that might change my perception would be to speak with an individual that showed racist concepts and convinced me otherwise.

Sexism, like racism, still exists in the world today. It may not be as extreme as it once was, where men were in complete charge of the world and women were not allowed any rights, however, some views have not changed and many are having problems developing with society. For instance, angered citizens who proudly protest against a woman running for president because that is in fact, a "man's job". Many women are also taking on tasks that would have never been expected a hundred years ago, such as: joining the military and armed forces, and completing college, only to become successful, hardworking members of society. These are just a few ways of thinking that come to mind when I hear this topic. The only thing that would change my perception on the matter would be if I , as a female, decided to run for president because I would not be focused on sex, but instead on the greater good of our nation.

Looking at my own personality, I think I fit more into Gorgias' theory describing objective perception to be impossible. Generally as soon as I hear a topic I put my personal feelings into play. In the long run, I think I would be able to train myself to see only the object, or point of view if i was in a situation were my opinion might be harmful, however, I do not think it is nessecary.