The actual manifested world itself is the same, regardless of how different life forms perceive it. But all types of creatures and even individual individuals, except for the basis of this world, which is the same for all forms of life, perceive predominantly those of its facets that correspond to their aspirations and needs. If we are talking about a person, then we must take into account his worldview, which largely determines not only the range of preferential perception of some facets of the reality of the world, but also his attitude towards these facets. At the same time, a person is confident that his perception of the world and attitude towards this world are adequate to the circumstances. And even if you try to explain to him that he perceives reality distortedly, then, most likely, nothing will come of it - he will not accept the explanation, because it does not fit into his ideological logic. Thus, the main reason lies in his worldview, which each person has his own map for assessing the significance of the world. The fact is that each significance, for the person who perceives it, has its own individual sound, hence the worldview, which includes the reflected significances of this world, can be compared to an orchestra, which for each person is not only different in the instruments included in it, but also in its individual works that he prefers to perform. And, besides, the same significance for different people does not have the same value, which is in many ways also connected with worldview. From this we can conclude: the same manifested world, which has certain significance, is perceived and assessed differently by different people. And depending on the goals to which they devote their lives, the same objects or the relationships between them will be perceived and evaluated differently by people. And, in addition, the worldview can be compared to puzzles that contain elements that have certain colors and shapes, then each person’s worldview is their own individual puzzle, which is put together into its own individual picture.
Each significance of a worldview sounds at its own frequency and a person, depending on this, strives mainly for what is consonant with him. He will perceive the reality of the world from the side that is consonant with his worldview, and will act in the external world as his inner sound allows him. Therefore, every person has his own truth, even a criminal. And not all criminals will agree that their truth is wrong and that they are criminals. In order for them to see that their truth is defective, there must be a part of their worldview that is free or independent of their truth. And only from the position of this free part can they realize that they are wrong. But this small part can be so insignificant that a person, even knowing that he is doing something destructive, will not be able to resist his individual destructive truth. But more often it happens that a person realizes the destructiveness of his truth from the position of a mind that knows generally accepted assessments of the significance of the world and can even talk convincingly about their values for listeners, but when the time comes to act, the person finds himself at the mercy of his worldview. Thus, a worldview is not the sum of information perceived by the mind as a result of training, or notations, or soul-saving conversations held with a person, because a worldview has roots in the subconscious. Then how is a worldview formed? First, a worldview must have a genetic basis, and when this is not enough, the idea of exclusivity can be taken as a basis. Every person, if not explicitly, openly, then on a deeper level, considers himself or wants to be exceptional, even if not in everything, then at least in something. Well, then a myth unfolds that confirms his exclusivity, which asserts either the exclusivity of the idea that a person follows, or the exclusivity of the goal to which a person devotes his entire life, or the exclusivity of the person himself, for example, in connection with his social status.
When we talk about the genetic basis of a worldview, then in this case we are talking about a person’s hereditary predispositions, on the basis of which ideas that bear the meaning of his life can subsequently be formed. A person’s worldview always has its own history and its own heroes, who, when forming a worldview, are an example of both relationships with external reality and attitude towards oneself. This story usually consists of two parts - his personal and the history of his people. And its truthfulness or bias is not at all important; what is important is that it instills in a person a certain significance, which represents him as a non-trivial personality.
The history of any nation, and each person’s own personal history, is multifaceted. But very often, when describing their history, historians take its best facet and even exaggerate it, and present the still life they received as real history. And if it lacks the necessary greatness and heroism, then myths, for example, the biblical Old Testament, come to the rescue. At the same time, when describing the stories of other peoples, they consider them based on all sorts of negative examples, and also exaggerate them, and an example of this can be the times of the reign of Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great, and many other examples.
A formed worldview is not only the glasses through which a person looks at the reality of the world and his place in it, but it also determines the configuration of a person’s personality, his creative capabilities and the possibilities of his spiritual growth.
Have you ever thought about how we see things? How do we pick them out from the entire visual diversity of the environment with the help of sensory stimuli? And how do we interpret what we see?
Visual processing is the ability to make sense of images, allowing humans (and even animals) to process and interpret the meaning of the information we receive through our vision.
Visual perception plays an important role in everyday life, helping with learning and communicating with others. At first glance it seems as if perception occurs easily. In fact, behind the supposed ease lies a complex process. Understanding how we interpret what we see helps us design visual information.
A balanced infographic involves the proper use of visual representation (for example, charts, graphs, icons, images), an appropriate choice of colors and fonts, a suitable layout and site map, etc. And we must not forget about the data, its sources and topics, which is no less important. But today we will not talk about them. We will focus on the visual side of information design.
Psychologist Richard Gregory (1970) was convinced that visual perception depends on top-down processing.
Top-down processing, or conceptually driven processing, occurs when we form a picture of the big picture from small details. We make assumptions about what we see based on expectations, beliefs, prior knowledge, and previous experiences. In other words, we are making an educated guess.
Gregory's theory is supported by numerous evidence and experiments. One of the most famous examples is the hollow mask effect:
When the mask is turned to the hollow side, you see a normal face
Gregory used Charlie Chaplin's rotating mask to explain how we perceive the hollow surface of a mask as bulges based on our beliefs about the world. According to our previous knowledge of facial structure, the nose should protrude. As a result, we subconsciously reconstruct the hollow face and see a normal one.
How do we perceive visual information according to Gregory's theory?
1. Almost 90% of information received through the eyes does not reach the brain. Thus, the brain uses previous experience or existing knowledge to construct reality.
2. The visual information that we perceive is combined with previously stored information about the world that we have acquired through experience.
3. Based on various examples of the theory of top-down information processing, it follows that pattern recognition is based on contextual information.
Information Design Tip #1, based on Gregory's Visual Inference Theory: Enhance the data with an appropriate theme and design; use a meaningful headline to set key expectations; Support your visuals with expressive text.
2. Sanoka and Sulman's experiment on color relationships
According to numerous psychological studies, combinations of homogeneous colors are more harmonious and pleasant. While contrasting colors are usually associated with chaos and aggression.
In 2011, Thomas Sanocki and Noah Sulman conducted an experiment to study how color combinations affect short-term memory - our ability to remember what we just saw.
Four different experiments were conducted using harmonious and disharmonious color palettes. In each trial, participants were shown two palettes: first one, then a second, which had to be compared with the first. The palettes were shown at a certain time interval and several times in random combinations. The subjects had to determine whether the palettes were the same or different. Also, the experiment participants had to evaluate the harmony of the palette - a pleasant/unpleasant combination of colors.
Below are 4 examples of palettes that were shown to participants in the experiment:
How do colors affect our visual perception according to Sanocki and Sulman's theory?
- People remember better those palettes in which the colors are combined with each other.
- People remember palettes that contain a combination of only three or fewer colors better than those that contain four or more colors.
- The contrast of adjacent colors affects how well a person remembers a color scheme. In other words, this means that the color difference between context and background can enhance our ability to focus on the context.
- We can remember quite a large number of color combinations at the same time.
Thus, the results of the experiment indicate that people are better able to absorb and remember more information when perceiving images with a contrasting but harmonious color scheme, preferably with a combination of three or fewer colors.
Information design tip #2, based on Sanoka and Sulman's experiment: Use as few different colors as possible in complex content; increase the contrast between the visual information and the background; choose themes with a harmonious combination of shades; use disharmonious color combinations wisely.
Binocular rivalry occurs when we see two different images at the same location. One of them dominates, and the second is suppressed. Dominance alternates at certain intervals. So, instead of seeing a combination of two pictures at the same time, we perceive them in turn, as two images competing for dominance.
In a 1998 experiment, Frank Tong, Ken Nakayama, J. Thomas Vaughan, and Nancy Kanwisher concluded that if you look at two different images at the same time, the effect of binocular rivalry occurs.
Four trained people took part in the experiment. As stimuli, they were shown images of a face and a house through glasses with red and green filters. During the perception process, there was an irregular alternation of signals from the two eyes. The subjects' stimulus-specific responses were monitored using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
How do we perceive visual information according to Tong's experiment?
- According to MRI data, all subjects showed active binocular rivalry when they were shown dissimilar pictures.
- In our visual system, the binocular rivalry effect occurs during visual processing. In other words, during the short period of time when the eyes are looking at two dissimilar images located close to each other, we are not able to determine what we are actually seeing.
David Carmel, Michael Arcaro, Sabine Kastner and Uri Hasson conducted a separate experiment and found that binocular rivalry can be manipulated using stimulus parameters such as color, brightness, contrast , shape, size, spatial frequency or speed.
Manipulating contrast in the example below causes the left eye to perceive a dominant image, while the right eye perceives a suppressed image:
How does contrast affect our visual perception according to the experiment?
- Manipulating contrast causes the stronger stimulus to be dominant for a greater amount of time.
- We will see a fusion of the dominant image and part of the suppressed one until the effect of binocular rivalry arises.
Information Design Tip #3 Based on the Binocular Rivalry Effect: n Don’t overload the content; use themed icons; highlight key points.
4. The influence of typography and aesthetics on the reading process
Did you know that typography can influence a person's mood and ability to make decisions?
Typography is the design and use of type as a means of visual communication. Nowadays, typography has moved from the field of book printing into the digital sphere. Summarizing all possible definitions of the term, we can say that the purpose of typography is to improve the visual perception of text.
In an experiment, Kevin Larson (Microsoft) and Rosalind Picard (MIT) found out how typography affects a reader's mood and problem-solving ability.
They conducted two studies, each involving 20 people. Participants were divided into two equal groups and given 20 minutes to read an issue of The New Yorker magazine on a tablet. One group received text with bad typography, the other - with good typography (examples are given below):
During the experiment, participants were interrupted and asked how much time they thought had passed since the start of the experiment. According to psychological research (Weybrew, 1984), people who find their activities enjoyable and are in a positive mood report spending significantly less time reading.
After reading the texts, the experiment participants were asked to solve the candle problem. They had to attach the candle to the wall so that the wax would not drip, using pushpins.
How do we perceive good typography and its impact?
- Both groups of participants misestimated the time spent reading. This means that reading was a fun activity for them.
- Participants who were presented with text with good typography significantly underestimated their reading time compared to participants who were presented with text with poor typography. This means that they found the first text more interesting.
- None of the participants who read the text with poor typography were able to solve the candle problem. While less than half of the second group completed the task. Thus, good typography influenced the ability to solve problems.
Information Design Tip #4, based on Larsen and Picard's experiment on the influence of typography: Use readable fonts; separate text from images; do not overlay pictures or icons on the text; leave enough white space between paragraphs.
5. Perception of the essence of the scene according to Castellano and Henderson
Have you ever wondered what the expression “a picture says a thousand words” really means? Or why do we perceive images better than text?
This does not mean that the image tells us all the information we need. A person simply has the ability to grasp the main elements of a scene at one glance. When we fix our gaze on an object or objects, we form a general idea and recognize the meaning of the scene.
What is scene perception? According to Nissan Research & Development researcher Ronald A. Rensink:
“Scene gist, or scene perception, is the visual perception of the environment as an observer at any given time. It includes not only the perception of individual objects, but also such parameters as their relative positions, as well as the idea that other types of objects are encountered."
Imagine that you see certain objects that represent two signs with symbols, and a diagram that symbolizes a fork and indicates two different paths. Most likely, the following scene appeared in front of you - you are in the middle of the jungle/forest/highway and there are two paths ahead that lead to two different destinations. Based on this scene, we know that a decision must be made and one path must be chosen.
In 2008, Monica S. Castelhano of the University of Massachusetts Amherst and John M. Henderson of the University of Edinburgh studied the effect of color on the ability to perceive the essence of a scene.
The experiment included three different trials. Students were shown several hundred photographs (natural or man-made objects) under different conditions for each test. Each image was shown in a specific sequence and time point. Participants were asked to respond “yes” or “no” when they saw details that matched the scene.
Normal and blurred photographs were presented with color and monochrome photographs, respectively.
To determine the role of colors in the perception of the essence of a scene, anomalous colors were used for the following example photographs:
How do we perceive visual information based on Castellano and Henderson's findings?
- The subjects grasped the essence of the scene and the target object within seconds. This means that people can quickly understand the meaning of a normal scene.
- The subjects were faster at matching color pictures than black and white ones. Thus, color helps us understand a picture better.
- In general, colors determine the structure of objects. The better a color matches the way we typically perceive the world, the easier it is for us to understand the meaning of the image.
Information Design Tip #5 Based on Castellano and Henderson's Scene Perception Research: Use appropriate icons or pictures to represent data; arrange content in the correct sequence; use familiar colors for important objects.
conclusions
Understanding how people perceive visual information helps improve infographics. Summarizing the conclusions of the experiments reviewed, we bring to your attention key tips for visual information design:
1. Layout and design
- The theme and design should be consistent with the information.
- Don't overcrowd your page's infographics.
- Use themed icons.
- Arrange content in proper sequence.
- Use headings to set key expectations.
2. Video sequence
- Visuals should accompany the text.
- Show important numbers in graphs and charts.
- Use the right pictures and icons to represent your data.
- Reduce the number of colors for complex content.
- Make the contrast higher between important visual information and the background.
- Use harmonious theme colors.
- Use disharmonious colors wisely.
- Use regular colors for important objects.
4. Typography
- Choose readable fonts.
- Leave plenty of white space between the title and the text or image.
- Do not overlay pictures or icons on text.
- Provide sufficient spaces between characters.
Now that you know the ins and outs of creating beautiful and compelling infographics, it's up to you!
Each person perceives the world around him in his own way. For some it is friendly, and a person feels comfortable in it, for others it is hostile, full of sorrows and disappointments. And everyone is right in their own way, because a person sees the world as he wants to see it according to his inner beliefs and attracts similar events into his life, i.e. Every person lives the life that he creates for himself, the reason for all the events that happen in a person’s life lies in the person himself. We see the world not as it is, but as we are. We see it through the prism of our personal experience, faith and beliefs.
I’ll give you one letter that I once received from a person who read my book. I edited it a little, I want to say that I agree with this person in some ways and disagree in others. I just want to say that every person sees what he wants to see. Many people have had it in their lives that when they came somewhere, a person was able to pay the rent, get money, and do a lot of things without any queue. And why? Yes, because he left the house in a good mood, and the world around him also prepared pleasant surprises for him.
Confession of a tired man.
Nowadays, such a disease as depression is becoming a truly huge problem. And why? Yes, because a person gets tired of soullessness, the speed of life, and indifference. And at some point the body fails. There is a very large overload of the psycho-emotional sphere, the rhythm of life is more accelerated, plus the ecology of the environment. In order to say kind pleasant words, no, not flattery, but sincere wishes for goodness and joy, you don’t need large financial investments, and instructions from the president, you don’t need to pass a law, there is free will here - the desire to give yourself and the people around you the joy of communication, kindness.
How do we usually communicate? Very bad. We do not know how to communicate when hiring an employee, especially in the human service sector, they are not told that people must be treated with respect and attention (we are not taught anywhere in school or in any educational institution the ability to communicate) . And in the end, society can and does receive a qualified specialist, but anyone is interested in which member of society our country receives. Until we pay attention to this issue, no investments, for example, in medicine, will improve the situation.
Let's travel to those places where all the residents of our vast homeland usually visit. And note that we will travel to the places where one of us works. Society, the people around us - that's you and me. And if society is vicious, if callousness flourishes, if rudeness and boorishness are the main criteria for communicating with people, then that means we are like that. And why? And so we begin to study the topic of how we communicate with each other, how we treat each other.
And why does a person who is in the workplace and works for people not pay attention to these very people, and if you suddenly remind him of this, the reaction can be so incredible that sometimes you cannot understand where in what century you are? And where was this man raised and trained? How much negative energy can a person receive, and how much can he withstand, so as not to collapse from an attack of headache, pressure, or become depressed?
We live in an energetic space, and if a person acted badly towards someone, he gave permission for the same to be done to him. And then this small grain of sand of one or another person’s discontent suddenly grows into an avalanche. Let’s say a person calls a bank, he needs to get information, but they don’t want to talk to clients, they connected the phone to a fax so that they couldn’t reach them, and calmly go about their business.
What about respect for clients? But forget about it. We've dealt with the bank, let's move on to the post office, let's say a person is expecting a transfer, but it's still not there, constantly visiting the post office once the receipt deadline is missed is inconvenient for a person for some reason, and he calls the post office, and in response to this topic they tell him about the secret of correspondence, and then three days later this person receives a notice to receive money from a person from a neighboring street, the postman mixed up the address, but what about the secret of correspondence? But they came up with this only to cover up their indifference to people and to amuse their importance (pride).
Are you still in a good mood? Then we continue our journey on the topic of callousness and indifference, when it is the human factor that is excluded from the responsibilities of those who work with people, but they just don’t want to notice these very people, they don’t notice and that’s it. It seems that the employees of this or that enterprise do not know their duties, or do not specifically perform them. It seems that in places like the post office, bank, clinic, pharmacy... we artificially create queues. And it’s not a matter of the number (lack of capacity, overload) of workers. That’s how it’s supposed to be, no one is responsible for anything, no one cares about anything...
Now let's talk about the younger generation. On the topic of communication between teachers and students at school, you can write an epic, or even a thriller. One day, my daughter, coming home from school, said that the teacher told the student that his handwriting shows that he is stupid and will not achieve anything in life, to which the student replied that his handwriting is normal, and his mother’s is the same. And the teacher, well, more likely there was no way to answer anything, told this boy, and your mother is just as stupid as you.
The boy was rude to the teacher, and he almost cried. My daughter came home from school indignant, this is not the first time that teachers behave in such an unworthy manner. I couldn’t tell my daughter that a teacher’s small salary allows (allows) the teacher to humiliate a student and talk about his mother like that. Tactfulness, intelligence and good manners do not depend on the level of salary. I called the director and asked why my daughter, like all students, was taught lessons about rudeness and cruelty at school...
And we can talk and write a lot about the callousness and cruelty of both the youth and the older generation, but until we all want to change (ourselves first of all, because it is through changing ourselves that all changes begin), so until we want to change ourselves, our society will become more cruel and soulless. Where are we going. Technology, science, is moving forward, but the soul is degrading? What's next? Isn’t it scary to live in such a soulless world? It turns out that animals will soon become more merciful than us? .....
I won’t bore you with stories about the surrounding reality; you yourself constantly encounter similar situations every day. But the thing is, it's all about us. I’ll just say - it’s all about us and we can change the situation if everyone looks at themselves from the outside...
Once, a friend of mine told me that they had a compliment day at their company. They spoke pleasant words to each other, not for show, not because they decided so, it was necessary, not under duress, but sincerely. And surprisingly, as he said, they were not tired that day, although they did a lot of work, and there was a feeling of some kind of lightness. He came home from work in a great mood and not tired. They liked it and decided to always communicate in this “mode”. Imagine that if this is how we communicate with each other everywhere and in a calm, respectful manner, with a smile on our lips. And then life will become easier, and people will have excellent physical and mental health.
Vision is a complex, dynamic thing, influenced by various factors. Be it diseases of the organs of vision, exposure to various illicit substances, or a congenital abnormality that develops over time. It is difficult for an ordinary person to imagine, visualize - to show with simple examples how it all looks and works.
Normal vision
The way a healthy adult with a clear mind sees the world around him.
Myopia
There are objects in the distance, but there is no sense - a person sees only silhouettes
Farsightedness
The opposite phenomenon - objects close up are very difficult to see
Partial blindness
In normal lighting, a person still sees colors, but not details of objects
Common blindness
That defect that develops over time, throughout life. A person still reacts to light and darkness, can notice movement, but nothing more.
Complete blindness
In fact, we do not know whether such a person sees anything black, because for him the concept of “seeing” is absent a priori. And he does not live in darkness, as it may seem, because he does not know the difference between darkness and light.
Colorblindness
In this example, the colors red and green are specifically chosen to show how they blend together in the vision of people with this condition. There are several degrees - from simply faded shades to cases where both red and green look like gray spots.
Newborn vision
In the first hours of life, the child sees practically nothing; his vision function does not yet work. Only dark and light spots.
Baby's vision 4 weeks after birth
The baby is still dependent on his mother and is inactive, so he does not really see anything further than 20 cm from himself. Only the outlines of individual large objects.
Child's vision at 6 months of life
After three months, children are already good at recognizing the details of close objects, for example, the faces of their parents. After another three, they discover that the world is actually colored.
Attention! The following images relate to the topic of mind-altering substance abuse! Provided for informational purposes only!
Vision of a very drunk man
Everything is visible, both details and colors, but there is no way to focus your gaze on something specific
Vision after marijuana use
Not as blurry as after drinking, but it will be difficult to play darts
Vision under the influence of LSD
The effects vary, but very often there is “scaling” - when the gaze highlights, makes larger and brighter one object of interest. Sometimes it may not be a visual object, for example, LSB makes a person “see music.”
Vision after cocaine use
The perception of the world changes to a brighter one, all colors become contrasting, details become super clear, but the brain does not always have time to process this information and paradoxes may be observed.
Vision under the influence of heroin
Simply put, a person sees almost nothing, as his consciousness is absorbed by the euphoric effect of using the drug and visual effects become secondary.
People have already been divided into types of perception of the world around them.
We are talking about kinesthetic, auditory and visual learners. This is, of course, a conditional division and each of us uses several ways to study the world around us. But some type still prevails.
The idea behind the topic is:
To develop abilities, you need to develop first of all those that are closer to your type of perception. In other words, if you are a kinesthetic person, you should not waste time developing clairvoyance, it is better to work with energy. Clairvoyance will come in a slightly different form and a little later.
Briefly about personality types and how you can use them.
Kinesthetic, a person who experiences the world through touch. Hands and fingers are his main instrument of cognition. Often seeing an object and knowing what it is, he will still touch and feel it. The perceived space of a kinesthetic learner is the distance of an outstretched arm. In conversation, the words feel and other words associated with body sensations are often used.
Auadials are such listeners, they will not let a single sound pass them by. They love music and other sounds. They make virtuoso musicians. Hearing is trusted more than other senses. They may remember what they were told many years ago without remembering what the person looked like. They themselves talk a lot, their ears are hurt by incorrect speech or a false melody.
Visual learners perceive the world through pictures and images. They can clearly remember a fragment from a movie they saw many years ago. They can easily imagine and operate with images. They can create a complete world in their imagination. Most visuals are women. Clairvoyance is a natural phenomenon when discovering your abilities.
I would like to offer you a small test to clarify your type.
Close your eyes and try to imagine, for example, a five-ruble coin. See one side, then the other. Read the inscription and look at it as if you were looking with your eyes.
With your eyes closed, try to feel the coin. Feel the coldness of the metal, the convexity of the surface, determine where heads and tails are.
Try mentally throwing a coin on the table, or hitting it with your fingernail. Hear the sound.
Some people can easily do all these steps. But one action will be easy and clear, while others not so much. Decide on your perception of the world. All further development will be in the work and strengthening of this original quality.
As an example, the development of the ajna chakra (the area located at the level of the center of the forehead between the eyebrows).
Energy color: blue (the chakra itself is pure white)
The sound of the octave A.
Sensations of vibration, pressure, pulsation.
We select practices for ourselves and work with them based on our perception of the world. And knowledge will come to you that was not previously taught. Get answers to questions and ask new ones you don't know about yet.
