Anatomy of personal perception
 

By Jim Killebrew

[August 08, 2014]  We wonder how people come to believe what they do. It seems from one perspective something is logical and laced with "common sense." But someone else sees the exact same evidence whether a word spoken, a picture or video and forms a perception completely different.

Conclusions are drawn from that evidence and then action or behavior is exhibited based on the information received and the beliefs formed. How many times have I heard someone say, "I don't talk about politics or religion." Of course, we know why, since there are so many different facets to any of those discussions that are "baked in" to our perception of those issues that lead us to an opinion or belief that differs from the person with whom we might have the conversation.

Some say a person is "led" to a specific conclusion through a "manipulation" of the conversation that leads to different conclusions than what the facts really support. Perceptions are then drawn from what is perceived as being the "truth" of the issue, even when the discussion could have been choreographed by the speaker in advance. It happens all the time in almost every type of interaction where one person is trying to advance an idea and needs to persuade others to agree with that idea. We saw a perfect example of that during the press conference the President held after his African Summit in Washington, DC.

For sure it was obvious the press conference was completely controlled by the President and his advisors who surround him. His first order of business was to keep the press and the American people waiting for over an hour beyond the announced time of the event. That may or may not have had any bearing on the content of the press conference, but it did systemically point to the power of the Presidential presence in having the entire world wait to hear the words he was going to speak.

Having begun his speech he pointed out all the viable points of the African Summit he believed was important. He mentioned the number of African nations that attended and the many needs they had with which America could help. He then listed all the supports he was recommending to the peoples in the nations of Africa that needed the supports. From the list he presented it was easy to note that Americans are a very generous people.

After the President spoke for several minutes he opened the press conference up for questions from the reporters who were there. It should be noted that there are usually a variety of political persuasions represented among the reporters and the news agencies they work for. Obviously, the President had total control over the questions since he was the one who made the decision about which reporter would be chosen to ask him a question. He called out the reporter by name from the Associated Press (AP) which is usually considered to be a more liberal agency.

The AP reported asked a question whose answer would be essentially what the President had already talked about in his opening statement. The reporter asked about sending the relief aid to the African nations. This gave the President an opportunity to speak for several minutes about all of the aid he had mentioned before. He was able to talk about his involvement in the Summit and repeat the abundant aid package he was providing to the African nations.

As the press conference continued he called upon the ABC News reporter who set up a question that allowed the President to talk about the "do nothing Congress." It allowed the President to talk about his having to "take action" himself since the Congress was not responsive to the needs of the people. Then the President asked a reporter from Bloomberg News to ask a question. That reporter set the President up with a question about business owners who are trying to escape the high corporate taxes by moving their business to another country. This allowed the President the opportunity to talk about the rich who own businesses who will be taking jobs away from people if they move out of the country simply to save their wealth. This gave him the opportunity to demonize the wealthy of the country and express his opinion about the wide gap between the wealthy and the poor. He then called upon a reporter from NBC News who asked about the President's policy about sanctions against Russia. Again, this was a set-up for the President to run through a litany of sanctions the European Union and his Administration was imposing on the Russian leader to force him to stop his invasion into Ukraine. This allowed the President to run through the democrat talking points about the sanctions and how effective they are. When the reporter did mention that the Russian leader continues to move forward in that area, the President cut off the reporter and moved on to someone else.

Throughout the entire press conference it was a series of questions from reporters chosen by the President to ask questions that supported the democrat position on each of the issues asked about. So when each person who watched the press conference and heard the exchanges between the President and the reporters he chose to ask the questions, it would be very difficult to believe it was nothing more than a love-fest between the President and his chosen media.

This is how people continue to believe in the perceptions they form when they are bombarded with this kind of "news" interaction.

[By JIM KILLEBREW]