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How Culture, Experience, and Cognition Shape Our Reality

The Illusion of Objectivity

It’s cute how we think we’re objective beings. We tell ourselves we’re clear-headed, logical creatures floating in a reality governed by science and facts. Yet, even a toddler’s perception of a bedtime monster will prove otherwise.

So, if you think you’re impervious to bias, think again. Culture, experience, and cognition practically craft what we call reality. We’re molded by these factors, and every belief you hold is part of that package.

Culture – The Puppet Master

Consider culture, this colossal puppeteer of perception. Culture tells you what’s valuable, what’s worthless, and, most generously, what’s true. We adopt these norms, rarely stopping to ask, “Are these my beliefs or just an echo of everyone else’s?”

It’s not as if these beliefs are self-chosen; they're embedded like software updates. By adulthood, you’ve passively absorbed thousands of cultural scripts. Your views on success, love, politics? They’re pre-scripted stories passed down, courtesy of society’s invisible hand.

Experience – The Personal Echo Chamber

Now, take experience, the personal lens we believe gives us unique insight. But let’s be honest: we’re not unbiased observers here either. Your life is an echo chamber of the events that happened to you, reinforcing what you already think you know.

Experience tells you that your perspective is right – even if it’s hopelessly subjective. Every time something goes right or wrong, you “learn” a lesson about the world. Of course, these lessons are less about the world’s reality and more about reinforcing your own beliefs.

Cognition – The Great Trickster

Then we have cognition, which supposedly offers clarity, a rational escape from our cultural and experiential biases. But if only it were that straightforward. Cognition doesn’t just "analyze" reality – it manufactures it.

Human brains love patterns, so they seek them everywhere, even where none exist. This trickster in our skulls lets us spot “meaning” in the random, connecting dots that don’t even belong on the same page. As a result, we create our own tailored version of the truth.

Reality is a Manufactured Product

So, with all that in mind, what we call “reality” isn’t some pristine, untouched truth. It’s a manufactured product, the combined output of culture, experience, and cognition. We assemble this “truth” like a well-coordinated illusion – beautiful, coherent, and hopelessly subjective.

And the most ironic part? We defend our version of reality with conviction. As if the carefully curated mosaic we call truth isn’t just a patchwork quilt of bias and misconception.

The Consequence of Forgetting This

If you forget how much your reality is shaped, you’ll live in an intellectual bubble, convinced of your objectivity. You’ll cling to opinions as though they’re hard-won truths, rather than convenient guesses handed to you by life. We act as if seeing the world differently is a crime against logic.

The moment you understand the puppet strings of culture, experience, and cognition, a bit of humility sets in. And maybe that’s the first step to wisdom. After all, reality might not be as real as we think.

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And there you have it. Reality is a concoction, a mix of bias-laden ingredients wrapped in a pretty package we’re pleased to call “truth.” If that doesn’t make you question a few things, I don’t know what will.


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