Free «World Through the Lenses» Essay

There are many mysteries surrounding the human mind. Thinking style and thought processes are not just extremely complex but also highly individual. People pass through the same course of events but acquire rather diverse experience. The only possible explanation of such a phenomenon is the way our perception works. We subconsciously overlay our sensations and impressions with past experience, providing our analysis engine with images that are already distorted. This aspect of people thinking is characterized by psychology professor Ellen J. Langer: "In the perspective of every person lies a lens through which we may better understand ourselves”.

The meaning of this phrase is ambiguous. While the concept of our perception being influenced by past experience is rather straightforward, the lenses’ role in a self-knowledge may seem unclear. Personally, I have trained myself to perceive the world around me with all its bright colors. The reason for doing so was my determination to avoid being narrow-minded and limited through the life. As Langer explains, “it is not primarily our physical selves that limit us but rather our mindset about our physical limits” (11). Thus, my ‘lenses’ are polished in a way that allows me to register all the positive and optimistic features in people, in events, and in the wide environment. However unpleasant things might have happened, there are still positive components in them. What is more, any course of events leads to the unpredictable but positive outcome. This notion helps me to live through the difficult times and actually creates many opportunities. Apparently, people like such a demeanor and become positively predisposed toward me. Sometimes, it seems that my optimistic resolution virtually attract the most pleasant events.

There are no limitations implied by the positive life’s perception. Living in peace with the world opens all the world’s charms and beauties. Of course, people’s ‘lenses’ are rather private, to the point that not everyone is willing to admit their very existence. However, our perception patterns effectively define the personality and are essential in the self-determination process. In order to enjoy the life’s fullness, according to Langer, “…we must ask if any of the limits we perceive as real do exist” (11). That might be answering the second part of the Langer’s riddle. All the limits are in our minds, and there is no way we can fully understand ourselves while looking at things through the clouded lenses.