We Don't Know How Little We Know

"This is a tough time for politics in America. But it's an extremely interesting time for those of us who wrestle with the nature of reality. As a psychiatrist who has treated people with psychosis for over 20 years, I have lived in the uncomfortable space between their experience of reality and mine and I have worked to change beliefs that are some of the most resistant to change: delusions."

"Our experience of reality is informed by the way our five senses perceive the world, and how our brain processes the information. So the best we can hope for is consensual reality, which means that our realities more or less align: We both think the sky is blue, and that what I mean by "blue" and you mean by "blue" are similar enough."

Humans have no direct access to objective reality because perception depends on the five senses and brain processing. The best achievable reality is consensual reality, where people’s perceptions and meanings align closely enough to communicate and act together. Psychosis produces idiosyncratic realities that diverge from consensual reality, though some groups can share divergent consensual realities. Contemporary America contains two largely separate consensual realities that interpret the same events very differently: one frame portrays a violent attacker and defensive response, the other portrays a non-violent protestor victimized by authorities. These conflicting realities erode shared facts and complicate public discourse.

Read at Psychology Today