We respond to the world as it shows up to us.
A person looks threatening.
A room feels welcoming.
A problem appears impossible.
A conversation sounds dismissive.
That occurrence is real as experience.
It is not necessarily the whole reality of the object, person, or situation.
Perception is shaped by sensory information, memory, expectation, attention, and interpretation.
The source connects this with Werner Erhard's distinction of the occurring world: the world as it occurs for us is the world to which our thoughts, feelings, and actions respond.
The useful part of the distinction does not require claiming that reality is only projection.
Other people have independent behavior.
Circumstances impose real constraints.
What changes is our access.
We encounter those realities through the way they show up to us.
That creates a practical question.
What here belongs to the situation, and what belongs to the way the situation is occurring for me?
What shows up matters.
It should not automatically be mistaken for the whole of what is there.

A reflection on perception and the occurring world: what shows up to us is the world we respond to, but it need not be treated as the whole of what is there.

We respond to the world as it shows up to us.

It is not necessarily the whole reality of the object, person, or situation.

Perception is shaped by sensory information, memory, expectation, attention, and interpretation.

The source connects this with Werner Erhard's distinction of the occurring world: the world as it occurs for us is the world to which our thoughts, feelings, and actions respond.

The useful part of the distinction does not require claiming that reality is only projection.

We encounter those realities through the way they show up to us.

What here belongs to the situation, and what belongs to the way the situation is occurring for me?

It should not automatically be mistaken for the whole of what is there.

What Shows Up to Us Is Not the Whole of What Is There