Perceptions: cultural, historical, and biological. Our perceptions colour our experiences, influence our judgments and shape our interactions with other people.
An oft-quoted anecdote runs that in 1972, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai was asked about the impact of the French Revolution. “Too early to say,” he replied. Given that the French Revolution of 1789 had occurred nearly 200 years before, Zhou Enlai was giving a long view of history in a big picture way; he looked at the event as one ripple on the surface of the pond of history. It is also pleasingly witty and reminds us of our small place in the universe.
We can see the wisdom of it, especially when applied to politics. A criticism of Western democracies is that politicians are unable to focus beyond the 4- or 5-year election cycle – their policies, promises and perceptions of what is important are determined in large part by the need to win votes. China and other places with more long-term governance can think and plan beyond this.
The perception of the Chinese in the West was affected too: the quote was used as proof that the Chinese were a patient, planning nation who thought about the future in terms of decades and centuries, not years and flipping leading parties.
So, I was disappointed to learn that the quote was a misunderstanding. Historical records and the translator who was with Zhou Enlai on this trip subsequently confirmed that while Zhou Enlai did reply to a question about the French Revolution, it was not the famously guillotine-happy 1789 one.
It was the 1968 student uprising in Paris. This civil unrest in France in 1968 started as a student protest, but quickly included industrial workers and shut the country down for a few weeks in the summer. Calls for government reforms were rife, and the issue was relevant in France for many years.
In 1972, then, Zhou Enlai, was responding to a question about a 1968 protest that was still having effects a few years later. His response was wholly proportionate, and he was not taking the long view of European history.
My perceptions altered on finding out my misunderstanding and I’m sure many readers have felt the same. When we learn that something we have believed for a long time is either wrong or, worse, that we were wrong, it can have a profound impact on us. Our confidence can be shaken, and our beliefs may need to be reforged.
Luckily, learning I and many others were hoodwinked by a miscommunication hasn’t rocked the core of my being. But changing perceptions closer to home can, as anyone who has been let down by a friend or family member knows. The English expression “to reveal your true colours” uses our never-ending wellspring of metaphor to capture the feeling. Handily, this experience can be positive or negative. Someone coming through for us in times of troubles may appear wreathed in light, while being let down by a friend makes them dull, fuzzy, and grey to our inner sight.
Interestingly, colour perception itself is not an objective reality but rather a subjective experience that varies from person to person. Our biology leads us to literally see the world in different ways from our fellow man. The human eye contains specialised cells called cones that are responsible for detecting and distinguishing different waves of light. There are three types of cones, each sensitive to a different range of wavelengths associated with red, green, and blue. Variations in the number and sensitivity of cones among individuals can lead to differences in colour perception.
Colour-blindness is a relatively widespread phenomenon. People with colour vision deficiencies can struggle to differentiate between certain colours. Red-green colour-blindness is the most common, and people with an anomaly in these cones of their eyes can have reduced ability to perceive these colours accurately. It does make me wonder why there are not more accidents at traffic lights.
A fascinating, and poorly understood subset of this is synaesthesia. Some individuals experience this, where their discrete senses meld and blend in unusual ways. Synaesthetes (as they are known) may perceive a sound as having a particular colour, may associate colours with particular words, or may even experience a feeling of taste or smell when seeing certain patterns.
Imagine my delight when, explaining this to a class of students, a face lit up and I was told that yes, to this student the numbers 1-10 had, for her, a distinct colour.
A logical step is to cover the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, also known as linguistic determination. This theory suggests that the language we speak shapes our cognition and worldview. Each different word language, with its unique vocabular and grammar, offers a distinct lens through which speakers of that language perceive and organise their experiences.
For example, there are languages which have more words for and rely more heavily on absolute real-world directions (north, south, east, west).
Then there are languages that lean more on relative positioning in directions (left, right, front, back). There are studies that suggest speakers of languages with strong absolute coordinates tend to be better at orientating and navigating than speakers of languages with relative coordinates.
Additionally, some languages treat time like space: terms like “in front” or “behind” are used to describe when something happened.
Alternatively, other languages focus more on the self’s movement through time: terms like “I’m looking to the future” or “he’s stuck in the past” are used.
An extreme form of this idea is used in the movie “Arrival”. As the main character breaks down barriers of communication and learns to speak to an alien race, she begins to see the universe as they do. Without spoiling too much of the movie, it leads to some pretty wild outcomes!
Ultimately, understanding that we may not all share the same perceptions is key. Be it due to culture, history, language or even biology, the way we move through the world is unique to everyone.
Remembering this, especially on a miserable Monday morning, can surely help us foster empathy and realise that the mosaic of human perception is richer for its diversity.
