IB Theory of Knowledge Essay: 7. "In order to find out how things really are, one must understand the filters through which one perceives the world." Discuss and evaluate this claim.

Reality can never be found through perception, for perception is unique and different for every living being. If every living being has a distinct view on reality, how can we know which unique view is the correct one? "A fool sees not the same tree as a wise man sees," says the great poet William Blake about perception. Perception like all ways of knowing has its limitations, and if we can understand these limitations, we …

…even from understanding the filters that skew our perception of reality. By understanding the filters of perception we can only sift the false reality from our total understanding of reality. Sifting the false realities will give us a better idea of the true reality, but will not enable us to recognize the true reality definitively. Bibliography 1.Gries, Peter Hays & Peng, Kaiping. "Culture Clash? Apologies East and West." Journal of Contemporary China Vol. 11, No. 30 (2001): 173-178.