Why It’s So Hard to Shake the Way People Make You Feel

"In psychology, a “trapped prior” is a perception of reality that’s colored, or trapped, by past experiences. If not treated, trapped priors can turn into debilitating phobias. For instance, someone might have an overwhelming fear of dogs because they were bitten as a child. Though not nearly as extreme, our trapped priors can shape how we perceive others. Have you ever known someone you just couldn’t stand, but didn’t really know why? Maybe it was some slight offense that turned you off to them and now you get uneasy every time they’re around. Trapped priors exist because your perception of the world doesn’t start with a blank slate every time you open your eyes. Rather, perception is a process of organizing and interpreting incoming sensations. This process is heavily rooted in past experiences—patterns you’ve seen and mapped to what’s happening now.

The best way I’ve found to understand this is using an optical illusion. Take a look at the chessboard below, and notice how the square labeled “A” looks darker than “B”:

Source: Nir And Far

In reality, those two shades of gray are identical. Take a look at what happens when I remove the context that’s creating the perception of two different shades:

Source: Nir And Far

Everyone sees two shades of gray in that first image. We can’t help it. We see two shades because our brains don’t perceive the shades of gray simply as they are. We perceive instead a combination of patterns that we’ve seen before: the pattern of a chessboard, the pattern of light and shadow. Our past experiences with these patterns make us see things not quite as they are, but as we expect them to be."

Read the full available article on Psychology Today

Reflection: Have you ever felt that you have disliked a person you just met because of previous experinces?

#Feelings #Perception #TrappedPriors