Sensory Perceptions Essay Examples

Sometimes one wonders whether what one perceives is correct or not. It is argued that the human senses may not be accurate as perceived-senses are deceptive. Nevertheless, there are reasons to belief the accuracy of the perceived information. The human body has senses that one can use to determine the accuracy of the perceived data. In this case, the sense of smell, sight, and touch are used to explain how one can use them in determination of the accuracy of the perceived data.
The sense are connected the brain in that they sent information of where one is, what one experiences and how. The sense of smell does not cheat what one is sensing. For example, the smell of rotten materials makes one move away from the source to avoid the foul smell. One cannot doubt that.
On touching something, information is relayed immediately to the brain. For example, if one touches a very hot service, information is sent to the brain immediately leading to reflexive action of withdrawing the hand. One cannon doubt such. The same occurs if one touches something that is very cold or that pricks the hand.
On the other hand, when one sees a snake, the information is sent to the brain immediately. Such information prepares one to fight or to flee as the body processes the information. Due to this, one cannot doubt the sight of the snake and hence, the sensed data. However, the point of view may have different results and hence the accuracy of the data is compromised (Ayer, 1963). It is worth noting that there some factors that contribute the accuracy or inaccuracy of the senses data.
Sense data may be inaccurate depending on various factors. Firsts, when one has taken some drugs, especially that cause hallucination, one cannot accurately perceive data. The drugs cause impairment in the relaying of the information as well as the interpretation in the brain. For this reason, therefore, the person does not perceive accurately. For example, one may see a rope that resembles a snake and belief it is a real snake while under influence of drugs. Moreover, when one is deprived of sleep, one may not be able to perceive accurately. The body does not act optimally if one has not had enough sleep. For example, one may be hearing voices that are not real due to the body having been compromised through long hours of sleep deprivation. In addition, lack of food makes the validity of sense data questionable. The body senses as well as the brain are nourished by nutrients obtained from food. If one does not eat for long hours, the body functionality may be impaired in such a way that the senses are not accurate. In overall, the sensed data would be invalid. Other factors that may make the perceived data invalid include illusions (Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy, 2011) and point of view (individual angle of observation as earlier stated).
Memory plays a critical role in perception and interpretation of the perceived data. The human brain stores information of what it experiences. In the event that a stimulus is repeated, the mind retrieves the stored data and interprets it. Such may happen in the same context or a different context. It is on this basis that one can claim to know something i.e. Knowledge is based in the stored stimuli in the mind of the humans. For example, if one had touched a rough surface, the rough sense is stored; without even retouching the same surface one can tell from thee memory that it is rough. However, it is critically important to note that memory may not be accurate since the information stored in it may have decayed. It is thus clear that memory play a critical roles in perception and the accuracy of the information.

References

Ayer, A. J., 1963. The Foundations of Empirical Knowledge, London: Macmillan.
Stanford Encyclopedia of philosophy ( Feb 25, 2011). Sense-Data. Retrieved on January 26, 2015. From http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/sense-data/#TimGapArg