Visibility, perception and hypotheses

Visibility, perception and hypotheses

Making assumptions based on the visibility of something is like searching for atoms with the naked eye. Do not misunderstand; there is a case to be made for people's need to be visible, particularly in the age of social media. Success or failure may depend on one's visibility. Being recognized both personally and socially is crucial. However, be perceived as what? We choose very carefully how we show ourselves to the outside world because we care about how we are seen. C. G. Jung, a famous scholar of Sigmund Freud, who founded the “school of analytical psychology” compared it with a mask we wear; we show a „persona“ to the world. According to the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, people adapt a certain „habitus“ - they behave and dress according to how they want to be perceived. So, what we see at first glance is just a starting point for making sense of the world. There is a difference between visibility, perception and the hypotheses we build. Realizing that is the foundational base for a deeper understanding.

Let‘s enter my workplace for a moment to meet a new client. We hear a knock on the door, and a woman enters the room. She‘s middle-aged, with a pale complexion, dressed in sweatpants and a loose shirt. As she shows us her CV for us to update it, we see that she worked odd jobs for the last fifteen years. You might have noticed something interesting now. You might have thought about a backstory for that woman, or might have even felt something towards her. Maybe you have judged the fact that we imagine her wearing sweatpants. We need to be aware of the fact that the visible is the starting point for perceiving the world and forming hypotheses, which might have nothing to do with the person in question. Of course we can try to deduce data looking at the symbolic aspects of fashion, but if we want to find out how that relates to her as a person, we need to understand her on a deeper level. This is where we reach a dead end with the visible. Even if we would have an eye for the very small visible details, all we get is an overall feeling, a first impression, which can be completely wrong. The visible is a flawed statistical source to make sense of the world, because we are at high risk of working with simplifications, prejudices, or wrong assumptions. Her style and her decision to work in odd jobs might have several reasons. Maybe prejudices hindered her success, or she cared for a bedridden family member. Maybe she is a single mom and took care of her kids on her own. Maybe she is highly intelligent and lost in an overwhelming sense of absurdity. Maybe she wears sweatpants because she absolutely adores a singer that styles this way, or maybe she just puts comfort over looks. We can collect hints; however, we are unable to fully understand her life and her needs by only computing the visible data. Working with the visible might produce a new CV and some job interviews, but we need to get to know her a bit better to grasp what she needs to move in a productive direction. In general, i think that being perceived on a deeper level makes us more vulnerable. At the same time, we crave the intimacy it brings, when we are perceived as the flawed, unique beings that we all are. We do not have to do this all the time, as the social settings we are familiar with mostly require nothing more than the superficial. But it is worthwhile to move beyond the visible in times, where being seen is all the rage. Maybe we just want to be visible to have the chance to be understood. Applying the differentiation between visibility, perception, and hypotheses to the meta layer of society is also beneficial. Not that it makes things easier to understand. On the contrary, it helps us to acknowledge how incredibly detailed the bigger picture actually is.

Let’s use NASA’s famous picture of our earth as a pale, blue dot as a metaphor. When we stay on the superficial level, our planet will stay a blue marble floating through space. If we zoom in, we will see the continents, geographical markers, megacities, suburbs, and tiny huts. We see the people living in them in all their uniqueness and with their desires, motives, and dreams, interacting with each other, trying to understand each other and existence. Maybe we will be overwhelmed and humbled by the complexity of our planet and open our hearts to the idea, that what we see is just the surface of an incredibly intricate web of connections. We should not forget that our perception is flawed and that we need an open mind to learn, to grow and to admit, when our conclusions were wrong. Antoine de Saint Exupery phrased it like that: „You can only see things clearly with your heart. What is essential is invisible to the eye.“ (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. The little prince. 1997: 72)

Go out there, dive in, be blown away by complexity, be curious, and be kind.

Further readings:

Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. 1997. The little prince. Verlags AG Die Arche, Zürich

Bourdieu, Pierre. 2013. Outline of a theory of practice. Cambridge University Press

Jung, Carl Gustav. 2024. The relations between the ego and the unconscious. Patmos