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Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Thought vs. Perception

In class on Monday, Thylias spoke about recovering from her aneurysm. I don't quite know exactly what she said, but she had mentioned something to the effect that she was somewhat rebuilt by those closest to her—from their memories of her. This reminded me of something I had heard in another one of my other classes, about how thought brings objects and people out of their "natural" place. In effect, thinking about someone or something brings it to life before you. The experience may not be as genuine as actually seeing that object or person, but really what's the difference? I tried to experiment with this notion. I thought of one of my favorite songs, but instead of remembering the associations I have with the song, I tried to hear the song in my head. I didn't expect it, but the emotions that were elicited when I normally listen to the song were still brought forth despite not actually hearing the song. Then I thought about applying this to people, to rebuild them for myself, in order to re-feel old familiar emotions. The process inspired this poem:

 http://evergrow.tumblr.com/post/31413358587/tonight
(this is the tumblr that i've started for this class, click on I am a tree at the top left to see the rest of my posts, and follow if you want)

Is there really a difference between thought and perception? Can a memory of something or someone be just as effective as the actual experience of that person or object? Let me know what y'all think.

1 comment:

  1. I was also thinking how related our classes' discussions were!

    I understand thoughts to be what informs our perception, then our perception, in turn, informs our thoughts. It's one of those "what came first, the chicken or the egg" concepts. Personally, I don't care for the worry of whether or not they are the same. I'm more concerned about trying to keep my thoughts/perception maleable, or open for change. But who knows if what I want is really what I'm doing... Hope that answered something.

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