Sense Perception: Connections to AOKs
Natural Sciences
Our heavy dependence on sense perception can be a hindrance to the full pursuit of the Natural Sciences. Many theories and phenomena in Natural Sciences cannot be perceived by the human senses, but we know they exist as their side effects can be observed.
In the 19th century, physicist William Herschel, conducted an experiment and observed that light carries heat, and discovered the phenomenon that he regarded as infrared light. Although the infrared light could not be seen, its effects could be observed. It was observed that the infrared light portion of the light spectrum carried with it the heat that light brought.
More recently, in the 20th century, Swiss physicist, Fritz Zwicky, discovered the phenomena that he discovered as ‘dark matter’. In the past, it was commonly thought that in a galaxy cluster, the average speed of galaxies depend on the total mass of the cluster, as each galaxy is affected by the gravity of the other galaxies. Zwicky, while investigating the great Coma cluster of galaxies, discovered that the mass of the cluster of the galaxies, based on the speed of its galaxies, was substantially greater than the mass calculated based on the total light output of the cluster. He then theorised that there must be an invisible matter whose gravity is substantial enough to keep the rapidly moving galaxies from flying apart. He was later criticised for his discovery, as many at the time believed that his theory for the very presence of an invisible matter in the galaxy that could neither be seen, felt, or perceived through the senses, was utterly outrageous. It was not until the end of the 20th century, after he had passed away, that people observed the side effects of Zwicky’s ‘dark matter’ and began accepting that he was right about his theory of dark matter.
However in modern times, the scientific community has undergone a revolution from relying on our sense perception to relying on scientific experiment in order to precisely and accurately measure phenomena that is beyond the realm of human perception. Thus, this means that the Natural Sciences is largely dependent on human-created machines that are still limited to what we as humans are capable of measuring, and there are still natural phenomena that are still out of our reach.
In the 19th century, physicist William Herschel, conducted an experiment and observed that light carries heat, and discovered the phenomenon that he regarded as infrared light. Although the infrared light could not be seen, its effects could be observed. It was observed that the infrared light portion of the light spectrum carried with it the heat that light brought.
More recently, in the 20th century, Swiss physicist, Fritz Zwicky, discovered the phenomena that he discovered as ‘dark matter’. In the past, it was commonly thought that in a galaxy cluster, the average speed of galaxies depend on the total mass of the cluster, as each galaxy is affected by the gravity of the other galaxies. Zwicky, while investigating the great Coma cluster of galaxies, discovered that the mass of the cluster of the galaxies, based on the speed of its galaxies, was substantially greater than the mass calculated based on the total light output of the cluster. He then theorised that there must be an invisible matter whose gravity is substantial enough to keep the rapidly moving galaxies from flying apart. He was later criticised for his discovery, as many at the time believed that his theory for the very presence of an invisible matter in the galaxy that could neither be seen, felt, or perceived through the senses, was utterly outrageous. It was not until the end of the 20th century, after he had passed away, that people observed the side effects of Zwicky’s ‘dark matter’ and began accepting that he was right about his theory of dark matter.
However in modern times, the scientific community has undergone a revolution from relying on our sense perception to relying on scientific experiment in order to precisely and accurately measure phenomena that is beyond the realm of human perception. Thus, this means that the Natural Sciences is largely dependent on human-created machines that are still limited to what we as humans are capable of measuring, and there are still natural phenomena that are still out of our reach.
Religious Knowledge Systems
"The belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods: ideas about the relationship between science and religion; a particular system of faith and worship: the world’s great religions; a pursuit or interest followed with great devotion: consumerism is the new [1]".
Given that religion represents such an important part of so many lives, it does provide us with an opportunity to learn about different ways of thinking, and how global societies and individuals are so diverse. God is an immaterial being, and as such, our senses cannot be relied on to perceive Him, so how do we know if he exists? For example, if there was a car travelling a long a straight road, you would know it exists as you can see and hear it. If the car was travelling at the speed of light, how do you know it exists, as objects cannot be seen if they are travelling at the speed of light? In order to perceive God, our senses are "blind" and cannot, as such, be relied on. |
"Religion is knowledge too" - Albert Einstein
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The Arts
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It is hard to define art the way we define topics such as history, natural sciences, maths, emotions and religion. We have to question what kind of knowledge we receive from art. Trying to interpret a painting can almost be impossible as each individual has their own interpretation of the piece. Peoples' interpretation of the piece is linked to previous experiences and the state in which the individual is in.
It is said "The Arts creates something accessible to the sense". This means that art is only a medium which provides access to the sense to gather information depending on the person's views of life. Although our sense vary from person to person we can still identify particular traits in a piece of art. However whether it is considered art by that person is another question. In the end we will identify particular information that interests us. Art has helped us develop our views on the world and further our understanding and open our mind to ideas that previously might have been considered unimaginable. Even though art can be anything from a burning bottle to the Mona Lisa in the Louvré, our senses will provide us with different information, our sensory information in art may not be reliable to a large extent. Most of our understanding of art comes through our senses, such as visual stimulation or hearing. For example, a painting with many elements on it, like Picasso's Guernica painting, different people will notice different things. In other words your sense perception is dependent on your attention. In the video to the left, Apollo Robbins demonstrates how controlling other people's attention can affect their sense perception. |
Ethics
It is difficult to connect ethics with sensory perception because ethics are based on reason and memory, etc. However, there are some instances where sensory pleasure might not be ethically correct, having an affair and abortion being two of them.
Tangible things affects us more than abstract things because the decision we have to make triggers emotional connections if we are able to see it. For example, a large amount of the population agree with killing cows to be able to eat the meat although would decline if they were to be put in a position where they would have to kill the cow. This is an example of special pleading. Special pleading is a type of fallacious argument that involves an attempt to cite something as an exception to a generally accepted principle [2].
Tangible things affects us more than abstract things because the decision we have to make triggers emotional connections if we are able to see it. For example, a large amount of the population agree with killing cows to be able to eat the meat although would decline if they were to be put in a position where they would have to kill the cow. This is an example of special pleading. Special pleading is a type of fallacious argument that involves an attempt to cite something as an exception to a generally accepted principle [2].