Epistemological Problems of Perception: In other words, “Problems in the Knowledge of Perception” or “”Do we “see” what we really “see” or observe?””

Reflections here are ones derived from a careful read of the following article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-episprob/

This is one of my favorite questions in philosophy. A friend once told me that because they are not a qualified observer i.e. doctor, scientist or specialist in some thing his observations are all but hallucinations.

I tend to disagree. Sometimes it takes the comments of an outsider to rid the structured approach and long held beliefs to come to a realization or innovation. Hence, the freethinkers movement. It is very arrogant to not take everyone’s opinion because in every opinion lies a hint of someone’s truth. I am not for a free-for-all but study and explanation reaction counter reaction in a civilized manner.

Concurrently, our perceptions may not be true. Take the story of Galileo, who was house arrested for years due to the fact that he said the Earth revolved around the sun. Today we take that as truth.

With modern science we can observe that the sun in not just a small disc in the sky but a huge fire ball comprised of gas. Yes, it takes a special observer to realize this but sometimes it takes someone to think outside the box to get the special observers to solidify a claim through science. Unfortunately, it is the best that we have got.

Without getting technical, we do not want to run into a tyranny of opinion or fact….yes many mistruths will survive but you need to constantly bombard the truth so that it can survive. If not to borrow from mill we run into a problem of dead dogmas. I am using this quote in a different arena but I think it also survives the truth of science.

The mind is very powerful and theories can become truths with advances in technology and scientific testing devices. Take for example Hobbes Boson or “God Particle” very interesting that humans could think of this before testing apparatus was even thought out to explain our world.

So the easy answer is can we trust our perception, sometimes yes and sometimes no, but logic would say no in most instances.

So, what is the solution?

Maybe it is never take anything for granted because life is a mystery. Mystery is beautiful and the puzzle of life will always be interesting.

Thank you heavens.