To some, their perception of the world around them is their reality. Unless factors physically intrude on them, the thought that other things are going on simply does not matter.
To others, the reality is that their world is more complex, and that even though they might not feel the direct consequences of actions they cannot see, they are aware that they exist and have an impact on their lives.
Does this matter? I guess it depends on your view, and the degree you want to know about things you feel you can’t influence. Take voting for example. Some perceive that their individual vote is small and insignificant. To others, taking part is a way of having some say in decisions that will (at some stage) really affect them. By abdicating this responsibility, history has many examples of what happens when too many individuals stop caring about the world around them.
As a child, our reality is only what we can see and feel, as we grow up our parents shield us from the world “out there”, at some point, we each must decide how engaged we will become in that wider world.
Starting from a position of perceiving that we are helpless and subject to the what the world throws at us, it is easier than we might imagine to take an interest and get involved, even though it is not immediately apparent how this shapes our reality.
To live a life on the basis that our perception is the limit of our reality runs the real risk of not understanding what is really going on. Sometimes we all need to think the unthinkable.
Tags: child, perceptio, real, reality, understand

