 We humans are creatures of habit. We tend to do things the same way and have just we fall into these rhythms these ways of doing things and and Perception is really no different when we we look at the process perception in the way that we approach perception They're not that different. We do have some common tendencies in perception that are observable among humans so let's talk about some of these and why it might be important for us to kind of avoid these tendencies and So some of the common tendencies in perception first of all start with the snap judgments that we tend to Want to you know, this is part of probably our fight-or-flight response We tend to want to make a decision very quickly when we see something We feel like we have to know it. We have to understand it. We have to interpret it immediately And sometimes that's not always, you know The the right thing to do that can be very helpful and it can give us some good information but we also need to make sure we're taking in appropriate levels of context and Understanding that perhaps maybe we're not seeing the whole picture and there's some other things happening behind the scenes or where it happened before We saw it or that you know, whatever the it's okay to have an impression to gain that impression But we want to avoid the that getting that cemented in too far with a snap judgment in perception Allow for alternative possibilities as well We also have a tendency to lean very heavily and hang on to first impressions first impressions are very powerful And it's that's good for us to remember do is communicators that first impressions are important that people pay attention to them that We want to make sure that we're doing what we came to make a good impression on the first impression in particular Because though people tend to hold on to those probably longer than we should we need to be aware of that and and be willing to allow our perception of a person or a situation or or anything evolve over time and Take in more information as we get more data. We need to take that into account and realize that our first impression isn't always Accurate for the positive or the negative. You know, sometimes our first impressions that we hold on to Need to be loosened up a little bit So gather that information at first but be willing to allow other new information in as well to affect our perception as We get to know that that person that situation that environment more and more We also have a tendency to be more charitable than ourselves to ourselves than we do to others If you fail a test in your class, it's probably because the teacher was too hard and the questions were unfair Somebody else fell as a quiz or test It's probably because they didn't study well enough or they didn't put in the work, right? We tend to be easier on ourselves than we do to others It's a natural inclination and there's you know, it's nothing evil about it But we need to be aware of that that we need to try and you know Be honest with ourselves and also be maybe a little more charitable to others in that regard We're very much influenced by our expectations when we walk into a situation or meet a person We are influenced by our expectations. This is why and you know for one example A lot of people are so disappointed when they meet celebrities They meet their their celebrity heroes or whatever because they're not necessarily the same person that they expect They've built this person up in their mind or the situation you try you get your dream job And it's not exactly what you thought it was going to be When I was young I wanted to be a DJ radio DJ because I love music and I thought How cool is it to be a DJ just pick all the music all day and you just go in and it's awesome You just listen to music and play music all day and that's that's the greatest job in the world Later on when I actually got to work in radio. It was a great job But I got to pick zero music first of all that was all directed by the program director I didn't get to pick any of that It was a lot of making sure this commercial played and recording this commercial during that song playing it It just wasn't what I expected. It was a wonderful experience and enjoyed it But I was influenced by my expectations when we get that with different situations and people We need to be aware of that and guard against that and and temper our expectations so that we can take things as they are Not necessarily how we want them to be or expect them to be We're also influenced by the obvious one of the best examples I know for this is when I was a kid on the playground lots of times at resources in school I would get mad because I would get in trouble, you know, the teacher would look over and they would see us get scrapping or whatever And they would I would get in trouble and I would be like, but this kid started it. They started it You didn't see the beginning of it. Well, that's not their fault. They saw what they saw They saw they turned around when they heard some commotion and and the next thing they saw was me smacking some kid in the head Right. So that's what's obvious. That's what they were influenced by They didn't see all the name calling and the kicking not that that excuses it But all the stuff that happened before that and so they're not going to be influenced by that We were influenced by what's right in front of us and by what's big and bright and loud and so forth And so we need to be aware of that tendency and again kind of guard against that Just because it's obvious doesn't make it the most important or the most accurate piece of information Finally, we assume others to be like us. There's that's a natural tendency and communication in general But certainly in perception We just assume that everybody's like us everybody in their right mind, right? Why would they not be because we're in our right mind? So they must agree as well So we just make assumptions about about people and about their positions and so forth Um, I remember when I was a younger as well one of my best friends growing up I got an invitation to go with his family to chicago, which was You know three four hours for us and it was a big city We're from a small town that's a big city, but and I was like, yeah, that's great I'll go and and but I was used to being in the car for long periods of time My grandparents lived probably eight hours away from us in either direction And so we regularly were in the car for eight hours or we would drive for eight to 12 hours on vacation I was in the car all the time. So going three four hours was nothing to me But they packed like it was the apocalypse They weren't used to going further than like the 20 minutes to the next town over for groceries So for them going that three hours, especially in a big city like chicago was a huge undertaking and a big deal I just assumed that everybody was used to traveling like I was and that was a good lesson for me to understand that Oh, wow, life's not the same for everybody We all have different tendencies and different different things that we're used to and and so It shouldn't just assume that everybody else has the same perspective or the same Experiences that I do So we need to keep that in mind in perception too that you can't just make assumptions and assume that everybody Is like us or is on the same page as us. We need to to have to be aware of that So most importantly and all these things is that we need to break the cycle We need to Break away from these tendencies be aware of them so we can guard against them And then open ourselves up to the possibility of other things within those perception That'll make us within those perceptions that we have that'll make us much more effective communicators much more empathetic to other people and much more able to process situations and And behave appropriately and effectively communicate that way when those situations come up If you have questions about about any of this about perception in general about our tendencies and perception Please feel free to email me. I'd love to hear from you that way In the meantime, I hope that you will be more aware of these things and and guard against them So that you see things maybe a little more in the way that other people are seeing things and not Leap to automatic conclusions when we come up against things and that involve different perceptions