Copyright (C) Ronald E. Madsen, Jr., August 25, 2023
As pointed out in a book about perception, the brain is a pattern-discernment / pattern-matching device. Rather than objectively processing the full minute details of sensory information, cues are selectively extracted from sensory input and used to engage an internal mental model. That mental model fills in details that may have been overlooked or subconsciously ignored when taking in sensory data. Thus, the content of the mental model has priority over what might be called objective reality. This economized approach to information processing is almost certainly applied to communication between people, causing every message to be mostly interpreted rather than clearly understood. This is part of the context-of-reception problem. I do not hear what you mean, but instead I hear filled-in details that are in my memory, my mental model. The sentences you say to me do not convey absolute objective truth, but merely convey a series of cues that my brain uses to access specific content within my own mind. The easy mistake: believing that the mixture of external extracted cues and internal mental-model information is Truth, accurate and objective.
Which path leads to Truth? Declaration, or discovery? Accusation, or discernment?
Declaration: “You said this, and it means that…” Discovery: “Please help me understand what you mean.”
Declaration: “I know what happened.” Discovery: “Please help me understand what happened.”
Discovery: “I want to understand.”
Declaration: “I want to over-stand.” I want my interpretations to stand above reality, above objective Truth. I do not wish to learn. I want to declare, to subjugate reality, to shape it, distort it, bend it so it conforms to my desire and conceit. “Do not bother me with Science and History. I am very busy with my declarations.”