Believing perception is reality keeps us from challenging assumptions. Our perception is not an accurate picture of reality. Rather, perception is an individually crafted fiction influenced by several factors. Let’s examine what influences our thinking and discover a new world of possibilities.
Perception isn’t a mirror of objective reality. Our perception of reality is like the mirror in a fun house. It presents a distorted picture of reality containing our preconceptions, assumptions, and values. When we are aware of these factors, it empowers us to navigate the complexities of this mirror.
In this article, we’ll explore why we think perception is reality and how we actually construct it. We’ll examine the internal and external forces that shape our perceptions of reality. Then we’ll unpack the ten common cognitive biases in beliefs that quietly bend our thinking—and end with practical ways to see beyond the mirror.
Why We Think Perception is Reality
In daily life, what you experience feels undeniable. Your friend doesn’t wave back; your mind whispers, “they’re mad.” A manager pauses before replying; you think, “I’m in trouble.” As a result, we come to believe that our perceptions are reality.. The mind fills in gaps so quickly that the story it creates feels like fact.
Think of a fun-house mirror. It reflects something tangible—but the image is stretched, shrunk, or skewed. Perception is like a mirror. It shows us the world, but it also shapes it. Our beliefs, expectations, and emotions play a big role in this process. When we forget we’re looking into a mirror, we mistake the reflection for reality.
Scientists, mystics, shamans, and other gifted spiritual teachers are unanimous in their opinion. Our reality contains much more than we are taught to perceive. These possibilities await our discovery if we remove the obstacles.
Perception Is an Individually Crafted Fiction
Perception is a subjective process. Our senses are filters, interpreting external stimuli. They transform this data to fit our beliefs and values. So, what we experience is not an accurate representation of reality. Our perceptual limitations alter our understanding of the truth and lead us to believe our perception is reality.
Our internal dialogue can reinforce either positive or negative thoughts. We know the use of Matras and Sutras can alter consciousness and open doors to higher states of awareness. These tools have a long history of use as mechanisms to enhance healing. Perception is not a camera. Our perception is an individually crafted fiction. It is a personal rendering of the world built from limited sensory data and powerful inner filters.
Filters and Processes
Internal filters and processes are the mechanisms for creating perception.
Internal Filters of Perception
- The Senses collect fragments (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell).
- The Mind interprets and edits those fragments into meaning.
- Beliefs and assumptions highlight some details and hide others.
- Language and sound, ranging from everyday self-talk to mantras and sutras, can influence attention, mood, and meaning.
- Culture and upbringing provide us a script for what counts as “normal,” “true,” or “sacred.”
Two travelers can land in the same city: one experiences wonder, while the other feels overwhelmed. Same streets; different individually crafted realities.
The Internal Processes Behind Perception
Inside the mind, several processes combine to form experience. Notice how each one can tilt the mirror:
- Physical and Mental Health — Our health impacts our awareness, which in turn affects our perception. If we are tired or injured, this will alter or restrict our perception. Medicines or psychotropic substances will also affect perception.
- Bandwidth of Awareness — Perception is in direct proportion to awareness. Greater awareness means greater perception. Many internal and external factors affect this relationship.
- Attention — you amplify what you focus on and mute the rest. The mental process of focusing on specific stimuli while ignoring others. Crucial for selecting what gets perceived in detail.
- Interpretation — you assign meaning using beliefs and prior knowledge. The mind’s way of making sense of sensory data. Influenced by beliefs, expectations, and prior experiences.
- Memory & Experience — past events color present perception. A child bitten by a dog uses this experience to judge all dogs as dangerous. Negative emotions, as seen in this example, can stain our memories. So our perception is an individually crafted fiction, skewed by our memories.
- Beliefs & Expectations — you see what you expect. Expectations shape perception through top-down processing. We don’t recognize that our perception is an individually crafted fiction. Additionally, rigid belief systems can crowd out alternative perspectives. When identity fuses with a belief, any contrary data feels like a threat rather than information.
- Imagination — fills gaps (faces in clouds, footsteps in the wind). Sometimes perception is influenced or even created by imagination (e.g., seeing shapes in clouds). Such cases highlight how perception is an active construction.
- Emotions — fear makes shadows threatening, hope makes risks feel smaller. Emotional states can influence perception (e.g., fear can make shadows seem threatening). They influence how stimuli are interpreted and prioritized. If something feels true — like a fear, belief, or hope — it can override logic. Emotions make perceptions vivid and convincing, even if they’re not factually accurate.
- Intuition — fast, felt judgments based on subtle cues and pattern memory. A form of rapid, unconscious perception or judgment is often based on subtle cues and experience.
Because everyone’s mix is unique, no two people perceive the same event in precisely the same way.
External Factors of Perception: Believing Perception Is Reality
Beyond inner mechanics, external forces shape what feels real.
Reality Is Often Too Complex to Grasp Fully — The world is richer than any single mind can hold. To cope, the brain simplifies—compressing detail into usable stories. Helpful most days, this compression also breeds distortion.
Social and Cultural Influences — Family, schooling, media, and social norms shape our cultural narrative. It is a ready-made lens that tells us what to see and what to value. Entire groups can think perception is reality in similar ways because they share the same lens.
Propaganda and Groupthink Manipulation Tactics — Shape Beliefs and Control Behavior. They suppress dissent and influence actions by controlling the flow of information. These methods appeal to emotions and encourage conformity in a group or society.
Religious and political entities utilize the power of media to achieve their objectives. These entities teach us to accept our perception as reality because they actively influence our perception. It is obvious why they do this. They have things to sell, from toothpaste to ideologies. How do they do it, and why do they get away with it?’ Simple. Believing perception is reality leads people to accept misinformation because it feels right.
Narrow Range of Experience — Modern life can limit our firsthand experiences. Without different perspectives, our view of reality is limited. Activities like traveling and interacting with others expand our thinking. Engaging in healthy spiritual practice can also increase our awareness. The shamanic journey and Japa meditation develop our consciousness. Regardless of the paths you choose, the idea remains: broaden your inputs to widen your world.
We’ve seen the factors that affect perception and the internal processes involved. Enter the shortcuts that make us believe perception is reality, even when it isn’t. These are the biases that creep into our thinking.
The Ten Common Cognitive Biases in Beliefs
The human mind uses shortcuts called heuristics. They help us think faster and more efficiently. These shortcuts let us quickly interpret complex information. They also aid in making decisions and responding to our environment, often without our awareness.
However, because these shortcuts simplify reality, they can lead to common cognitive biases in beliefs. These are systematic errors in judgment. Biases help us to make rapid decisions based on limited data, but they can also distort our perception and lead to flawed beliefs.
When we understand why we perceive something as reality, it helps us to step back and see what’s truly happening. We gain perspective, wisdom, and open-mindedness. We can unravel the kaleidoscope of perception and unravel the mysteries of this mirror. Here are the ten most common types of biases:
1. Confirmation Bias
Confirmation bias is one of the most common cognitive biases in belief. We often seek out information that supports our beliefs. Then, we ignore anything that contradicts them. As a result, we seek evidence that supports our views, which strengthens our existing ideas. Many people believe their perception is reality, which is why they resist questioning it. The halo effect is another cognitive distortion that deepens this bias. It shapes our judgment by focusing on a single characteristic.
In therapy, clients often discover that perception is an individually crafted fiction. If you do not engage in inner work that reveals these harmful thought patterns and values, you will not know they exist. Cognitive distortions become an accepted part of your life.
If an individual believes they hear voices and has an imaginary friend, they are considered to have a delusional belief. However, when this person hears voices in the context of religion, they are referred to as a prophet of God. The latter shows how “perception is an individually crafted fiction,” which can be used to control great masses of people.
In the 2024 election cycle, voters tended to trust news that matched their political views, even if it was false. For instance, Democrats often believed negative stories about Trump. Republicans were quick to accept misinformation about Biden.
2. Anchoring Bias
We often rely on the first piece of information we receive (the “anchor”) when making decisions or forming beliefs. Advertising, religious, and political slogans become anchors to beliefs and values. Marketing depends on consumers believing perception is reality. It is the cornerstone that shapes our desires.
Anchoring bias occurs when the first information we encounter serves as a mental reference point. Anchoring affects our judgments and beliefs related to this subject. Advertisers, religious groups, and politicians use this bias. We see it with slogans or catchphrases that serve as anchors. These are simple, emotional statements, such as “Make America Great Again” or “Just Do It.” Even if these messages are unclear or misleading, they linger in our minds and shape our understanding of future information.
Common cognitive biases in beliefs based on hate cause people to vote without regard for the best interests of others and the planet.
Political slogans like “Stop the Steal” or “Build the Wall” serve as anchors. These phrases shape opinions on election fraud and immigration policy, even if the evidence says otherwise.
3. Availability Heuristic
We overestimate the importance of information that is readily available or recent, even if it’s not accurate. Mass media fake accounts that replicate misinformation become accepted as fact.
Repetition causes us to judge the truth of something based on how easily we recall examples. In today’s world of mass media and social platforms, misinformation spreads quickly. Because it feels familiar, it seems more credible. Fake news, viral posts, and emotionally charged stories capture our attention. They create a false sense of reality where repetition is seen as credibility, even if the content is misleading or false.
Viral misinformation on social media, such as claims about crime rates or election fraud, spreads quickly. These issues are emotionally charged to trigger fear and anger. Constantly seeing these claims makes the claims believable even without factual support.
4. Dunning-Kruger Effect
People with limited knowledge usually overrate their skills. Meanwhile, experts often underestimate their own abilities.
Cognitive biases illustrate how people with limited knowledge often overestimate their skills. In contrast, experts may underestimate their abilities. Confident but uninformed voices can dominate discussions, especially online. True experts might be dismissed or overlooked. The result is that misinformation is spread, strengthening false beliefs. Inaccurate beliefs are especially detrimental in fields such as science, economics, and healthcare.
Studies show that people with low political knowledge often think they know more than they do. When their party becomes their identity, they overlook facts that contradict their party line. Supporters from both parties displayed this effect. However, it was powerful among those who felt informed but struggled with basic civic knowledge tests. We see this trai in alt-right, Christian nationalist, and conservative believers.
5. Bandwagon Effect
We adopt beliefs because others hold them — especially if those others are in our social group or seem confident.
The bandwagon effect refers to the tendency to adopt beliefs or behaviors simply because others do. Social proof becomes a shortcut for truth — if many people believe something, we assume it must be valid. The bandwagon effect is leveraged in group settings, social media, and political movements. In these communities, conformity is often rewarded and dissent is discouraged. The more visible and confident the group, the stronger the pressure to align, even if the belief is flawed or unsupported.
Polling data showing a candidate leading can cause undecided voters to support that candidate simply to be part of the “winning team.” In experiments, the majority of options gained an average of 7% more votes after polls were shown.
6. Negativity Bias
Negative experiences or information tend to have a stronger impact on our beliefs than positive ones.
Our thinking is wired to give more weight to negative experiences or information than positive ones. Negative bias evolved as a survival mechanism — threats needed immediate attention. In the context of formation, it means that one bad experience or alarming headline can overshadow many positive ones. Media and political messaging often exploit this by emphasizing danger, failure, or conflict. Negative bias is used to grab attention and shape public opinion.
Social media reinforces echo chambers, with users increasingly believing perception is reality. Media outlets across the spectrum exploit negativity to drive engagement. Fox News and MSNBC both use fear and outrage to keep viewers hooked, often framing political opponents as existential threats. So, negative political messaging is more persuasive than positive appeals.
7. Hindsight Bias
After an event occurs, we often feel as though we “knew it all along,” which can distort our understanding of how and why things happened.
After an event occurs, we often feel like we “knew it all along,” even if we didn’t. Hindsight bias creates a false sense of predictability and understanding. It distorts how we learn from experience, making us overconfident in our judgment and less likely to question our assumptions. In social or political contexts, this can simplify complex events. It often supports existing beliefs instead of challenging them.
After Biden won in 2020, many Republicans said they “knew he would win.” But this was the opposite of previous predictions that Trump would win. Holding onto this bias distorts memory and reinforces false confidence in political judgment.
8. Belief Perserverance
We cling to beliefs even after they’ve been discredited or disproven. We not only cling to but also defend our common cognitive biases in beliefs. It is hard to admit what we believe is wrong.
Even when presented with clear evidence that a belief is false, we often continue to hold onto it. When beliefs are a significant part of personal identity, we fight to retain them. Our beliefs are tied to our sense of self and community. Admitting we were wrong can feel threatening or humiliating. Instead of updating our views, we rationalize or double down on them. Belief perseverance bias is often used in areas such as religion, politics, or conspiracy theories. When perception is reality, it’s easy to accept persuasive but misleading stories.
Even after claims of widespread election fraud were proven false, many voters still believed the 2020 election was stolen. People cling to their beliefs and defend them, even in the face of strong evidence against them.
9. Illusory Correlation
We see a link between two things even when it’s not there. Magical thinking leads to stereotypes, superstitions, or false cause-and-effect ideas. For instance, people might think that a specific group is more likely to commit crimes due to biased media coverage. Or they might believe that wearing a lucky shirt affects results. These false beliefs become ingrained and are difficult to change when reinforced by social or cultural narratives.
Conservatives tend to link negative traits with minority groups, creating false stereotypes. Illusion correlation supports political stories that connect immigration or crime to certain demographics. People often fail to recognize that perception is an individually crafted fiction shaped by personal biases.
10. Overconfidence Bias
We often feel more confident in our beliefs and judgments than we should. Overconfidence bias occurs when we place too much trust in our limited knowledge. When people lack the needed expertise or evidence, they compensate by presenting a persona of confidence. In politics, this bias is evident in public discussions, media commentary, and leadership decisions.
Political figures can often express extreme certainty in their views, even when they lack expertise. Overconfidence is the hallmark of social media commentary. Today, we see people with limited knowledge making claims about policies and outcomes for which they have no expertise.
In the 2024 presidential election, many social media influencers made bold predictions. They often relied on limited data or partisan views. Despite being wrong, their confidence remained high. They ignored facts and continued to influence public opinion.
In debates over COVID-19 policies, those with no medical background dismissed expert advice. They promote misinformation about vaccines, masks, and treatments. Their overconfidence led to widespread confusion and resistance to public health measures.
Conclusion
These ten common cognitive biases in beliefs are responsible for 90% of all harmful actions. They underscore the reasons why we think perception is reality. You can remedy them by replacing religious and political indoctrination with education and inner work.
References
- Scientists Find That a Single Word Can Alter Perceptions. Language has the power to make the invisible appear real. Psychology Today, August 2013, by Christopher Bergland.
- Cognitive Biases in Human Decision-Making. National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- The Psychology of Perception and Decision Making. NCBI, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- Biases and Belief Formation. American Psychological Association.
- Top-Down and Bottom-Up Processes in Perception. Frontiers in Psychology.
- Heuristics and Cognitive Bias in Everyday Thinking. NCBI, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- Cognitive Biases and Social Perception. Frontiers in Psychology.