59 Perception is Not Reality Why
b'Today I want to discuss something that really burns me when I hear about it. It\\u2019s such a labelling of a boatload of misinformation and bad information, and that is this expression: \\u201cPerception equals reality.\\u201d Come on. Get a life.\\n\\nI\\u2019d like to say it stems from some of the newer things that happened today where people are basically having some bad teaching, schooling, etc., but this stems way back. It goes back into probably the \\u201970s or \\u201980s even, where this was breeding, this kind of information from\\u2014yes\\u2014MBA programs.\\n\\nWhy is it even important? Because in order to market well and also to interpret well what\\u2019s going on in the world around you and when you\\u2019re seeing products, you need to know this and you need to know the fine differences between perception, bias, reality, and personal preference. Let me explain each of those.\\n\\nIt probably doesn\\u2019t surprise me, particularly today. I just heard today, something about 10% of college graduates who were interviewed, these were recently graduating seniors from college, thought that Judge Judy was on the Supreme Court. You\\u2019ve heard things about them being surveyed, they didn\\u2019t know who George Washington was, they didn\\u2019t know who the first president was, (which is George Washington, in case you haven\\u2019t heard), and a whole bunch of other things.\\n\\nPart of it happens from the idea, the assumption that you do research, you get facts, and that means you\\u2019re right. No, that doesn\\u2019t necessarily mean you\\u2019re right, because if I do some research and I think of something, and you do some research on the same topic, you have something else \\u2013 that doesn\\u2019t make either one of us necessarily right or wrong. When we start talking, we may find a better solution, but it doesn\\u2019t mean: I\\u2019m right, you\\u2019re wrong.\\n\\nWhat I\\u2019ll be discussing here is that there are really two parts. One is actually born in the idea of bias, and the other part is personal preference. Those two are very critical and very important if you have any product or service that you want to supply or sell, as well as if you\\u2019re a consumer. But people think that somehow they\\u2019re better perceiving or judging than somebody else, that\\u2019s why everybody thinks that their way is the right way; they are in the right and somebody else is in the wrong.\\n\\nWhat really happens, there? It actually reminds me a little bit of something a little bit off on a tangent as an analogy. I saw this in a book one time, and it talked about how almost everybody, if they think they\\u2019re honest, if they\\u2019re honest, almost everybody will say: \\u201cYes, I am.\\u201d Then ask them the question: \\u201cHow many people do you know that you believe are truly honest?\\u201d And they\\u2019ll say: \\u201cVery few.\\u201d So, what has happened, there? Yes, it\\u2019s a difference between what they think and what their rules are, but it\\u2019s an abstract idea. Reality is a combination of perception (what you see) and the error, that is what mistakes, bias, or other things that you\\u2019re making as a mistake.\\n\\nFor example, you go and measure something, they say: \\u201cMeasure twice, cut once.\\u201d Why do they do that? Because you\\u2019re liable to make an error. If you\\u2019re doing anything, you want to eliminate the error or the lack of information. Some error is just because you don\\u2019t have as much information so far. The missing information doesn\\u2019t mean that what you\\u2019re perceiving is reality. It just means you don\\u2019t have all your questions answered and all the perceptions proper. The error is a combination of missing information, bias, and just absolute mistakes.\\n\\nTo consider that your perception is reality and ignore those three things means that you\\u2019re not going to seek a better solution. I\\u2019ll get to why this is important for your customer shortly if you have any product or service. Your perception is based or focused on your past experience, your understanding, and the interpretation you have of everything around you. But be careful of mistakes or misinterpretations.\\n\\nFor example, and I\\u2019m actually taking some stuff out of some very h...'