Reality: As Many As There Are People
The impact of each situation depends on the personal, and therefore subjective, meaning that is given to it. The same situations, therefore, can be experienced as different realities by various people.
On the other hand, it is not easy for us to recognize the social construction of situations. Even in the perception of simple objects and situations. And these difficulties have consequences, as we will see below.
People build their reality
The simple act of remembering is a constructive process. As good as we are at remembering, our memory is imperfect. It is inevitably influenced by the context of remembrance (conversations about remembrance, times remembered, other witnesses…).
Loftus and Palmer demonstrated the so – called misinformation effect through an experiment they called a “car accident”. Explain how different people involved in the same incident build their personal realities about the incident depending on how they are asked the questions about the event in question.
For example, people who were asked about “crashed” cars described the incident more lightly than those who were asked about “crashed” cars.
Different functions lead to different realities
On planet earth there are different forms of structure, function and social organization of life, and therefore very different realities. For example, what we understand as the concept of family is not the same for a tribe and for a clan, even if families are formed to achieve similar goals.
Why is it so difficult to fully understand other cultures? If we look at a building under construction, we are not surprised how they build it, because it is common in our reality. On the other hand, when we look at an old cathedral, it may be difficult for us to imagine the construction process, because it is part of another reality.
Not accepting that there are different realities: consequences
Just as it is essential to assume that reality is something we construct, we must also be aware of a fact: this construction is well integrated with the objective part it may have, so that it is not easily recognizable. And if it is not easily recognizable, what are the consequences of not recognizing this subjectivity?
The main consequence of not taking social construction into account is what is known as bias of false consent . The bias of false consent (belief that our judgment is the most common and shared by others) leads to attribution bias (errors in attributing causes). The main consequences of not recognizing the different realities in turn explain the prejudice of false consent:
- We believe that our judgments, our choices, our beliefs and opinions are relatively common and appropriate to the circumstances.
- We do not consider that others are responding to a situation different from ours.
- We overestimate the degree to which others share our beliefs and behaviors and, therefore, rely too much on our predictions (on ourselves and on others).
- We do not take or do not consider the perspective of others enough.
- The alternative responses that other people provide to our beliefs we regard as deviant or inappropriate.
- We do not recognize that reality is constructed differently.
Reality is like personality
Each person has a unique and unrepeatable personality, it is not possible to copy or imitate it 100%. And the same happens with reality. If asked how we would explain to an alien how humans live, each of us would give a different answer.
Context and learning shape our being from birth, but our genetic inheritance is also part of us. We cannot feel, think, look, breathe, remember exactly the same way as others and, therefore, reality will always be experienced differently.
How many times have you heard or said, when faced with a given situation, that you have to be realistic? It is difficult to understand that reality itself does not exist and, consequently, everyone has their own truth. Being aware of it gives us the responsibility to respect and understand the reality of others, without impositions or value judgments.
