On Perception & Conception

On Perception

If “our perceptions [i.e. “how we see”] are influenced by the culture in which we live,” then culture is a major – if not, arguably, the primary – influence on perception. Moreover, if “who we are,[…], determines how we see” (Lindemann 90), then culture must, to a greater or lesser degree, also determine individual identity formation. But what if who we are is (also) determined by our perceptions? Don’t our perceptions, to a greater or lesser degree, (also) determine who we are? This (cognitive) dilemma suggests that cognition-via-perception is a paradoxically progressive process where the beginning of knowledge acquisition is, in fact, the end, while simultaneously the end is, in fact, the beginning. Therefore, the concept of culture is more monolithic than perhaps we’re willing to admit; that is, recognizing the myriad diversity of cultures (even within our own), ultimately there exists only one culture: the culture of humanity. And each individual human being is a unique expression of that one culture, so, too, each individual human being’s material identity (at this point, I will refrain from engaging in a discussion of the immaterial aspect of identity formation, for such a discussion would be akin to the opening of Pandora’s Box) is formed by that one culture even as it simultaneously forms the same.

On Conception

Whereas perception apparently refers to “the entrance of an idea into one’s mind” (Lindemann 93), conception is apparently synonymous with thinking (ibid.). So what does it mean to conceive? Etymologically speaking, the origins of the word have more to do with the notion of creation, creation within the womb. So what is conception? And what does it mean to conceive? Perhaps it means more than we’ve hitherto conceived. Perhaps it has to do with the creation of thoughts (or, if you prefer, the creation of first thoughts), thoughts that involve the “imposition of a pattern upon experience” ( Lindemann 94), where the “activity of the mind […] brings forth and develops ideas,[… ], not merely the entrance of an idea into one’s mind [perception].” So, whereas perception is essentially a passive process, conception is active (ibid.). Conception involves the act of creation; that is, to conceive is to create. And just as each act of creation involves the birth of yet another form of unique discourse, each individual human being represents the same. That is, each of us, however significant or insignificant we may feel ourselves to be, each of us is an essential element in the creative process that is composition.