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Caroline Wright's picture

Geese

I was thinking about the whole idea of reality and perception in relation to phobias. People with Schizophrenia etc. have issues with distinguishing between things/people that are real and things that are not, but that is only one end of the spectrum. On a more everyday level people have different fears of little things, fears that may be based on their perception of a situation, the way that they interpret something. Most of the time these fears aren't really there at all. For example, I have a big fear of geese based on an encounter with a goose from when I was little. At the time the goose was big and I was small, but now even though I'm older and bigger, I'm still afraid of them. The fear memory from that experience is etched in my memory. When I walk past the flock of geese by the pond behind Rhoads, I have a different experience than my friend might have because of my fear. In this case we are perceiving the same reality, the reality of the geese, but my reality of the situation as a whole is different because of my memories and fears, therefore the physical response my body has to the experience is completely different than if someone else was to walk past the geese.

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