Several chapters preceding this one have described various behavioral (e.g. perception, interpretation, response) filters, and asserted that each has strong organic foundations that explain the mechanism of their appearance within humankind. Why would ConserveLiberty declare such a thing? Because an organic (meaning physical, natural) foundation underlies the explanation of why everything that is observed is observed to behave as it does. At least as far as everything that has been studied to date has been verified and understood. Humans could be different, but why would that be? At all?

What has been lacking, however, is the presentation within these chapters of any validating evidence supporting such a declaration.

With this chapter, we are taking a different approach. We are going to present and discuss scientific (i.e. empirically oriented, responsibly skeptical, rationally treated, reproducible) evidence that has been observed and may be useful to the understanding of a profound feature of human cognition - the ability to recognize, understand, and to engage differently with that which is Real vs. that which is Imaginary.

In this chapter we will use research generated in the study of Schizophrenia. We will begin first with research summarized in The Guardian (reproduced in the next section). We will then continue with a much more extensive and analytical genome-wide association study (GWAS) published in Nature (by the Schizophrenia Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium). Perhaps later we will bring in additional information from other labs.

At this point, it is important to note that the understanding of schizophrenia (a disease which, among other things obscures the recognition of the difference between Real and Imaginary) is not at all complete, and is advancing in many areas. The most important take home will simply be to show that it is beginning to be understood genetically, meaning understood that it will have organic and thus inheritable foundations underlying it. And, that the Ensembled Filter that makes up the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble is built of many, many parts. Parts which today are not fully understood well.

Lots of people can not perceive For Real what is really before them In Plain Sight.

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A Few Fun Illusions

Let's give a few examples of perception not reflecting the actual reality of What Is, or even What Is Happening, that all, even the most sane of us, may be familiar with.

Importantly, remember, we all tend to believe that what we are seeing is the Reality of what we are seeing. Oftentimes we may doubt the accuracy of what we are seeing if we have prior knowledge of various demonstrated imperfections in our vision or hearing or one of our other senses. However, if our own deficiencies have not been demonstrated to or experienced by us, we tend to believe that what we are seeing is True. It's not oftentimes a bad judgement to make. After all, without further info, what alternate choice are we to make, especially in the case that survival is at stake? In fact, one can imagine that such a default judgement in the face of no other conflicting information would be a trait that would be selected evolutionarily. Meaning, those not going with what they are perceiving may be the ones most likely to expire in a situation selecting for survival.

That said, most of us also are not wired to be actively validation oriented. Most of us are wired for belief, and if that does not kill us, is often the easiest route to go. It may not be good for us, but we are an adaptable species. We will tolerate a lot if it doesn't kill us. Another way of thinking about this ... we will tolerate a lot if whatever we are tolerating is considered a condition of living. This trait often leads to pragmatically positive results. However, it can also be subject to corrupting influences. And, in the case of schizophrenia, can often lead to believing as true that which is obviously (to the sane) not at all real.

So, to sum up in fewer words ... most of us are wired to believe that what we are perceiving is real if it is being perceived through routes that we have become certain reflect what is bona fide and real.

And now, on to a few examples where even using those routes can mislead us, even when we are certain that we are not the ones that may be being mislead.

The Dress

What color dress do you see?

Interested in The Science of Why No One Agrees on the Color of This Dress? Click here for the article.

When your brain tries to figure out what color something is, it essentially subtracts the lighting and background colors around it. Neuroscientifically, the brain tries to "discount the chromatic bias of the daylight axis." This is why you can identify an apple as red whether you see it at noon or at dusk.

The dress is on some kind of perceptual boundary, with a pretty even mix of blue, red and green. So for those who see it as gold and white, and others as blue and black, their eyes are subtracting different background lighting.

Changing a color's appearance by changing the background or lighting is one of the most common techniques in optical illusions.

(If you’ve ever held a sock up to something black to see whether it was black or navy, you understand the concept.)

Lets use a convenient cartoon drawing to better illustrate how one's eyes "compensate" for background color. To the left is the original drawing. Below are two excerpts, one of the left dress, the other of the right.
Are we seeing the equivalence yet?

Try these excerpts below that completely eliminate any surrounding background images:



The Grey Squares

Want more examples? Check this out:

The shades of "A" and "B" are the same. A second picture with a constant shade bar between them is provided below. Next to it is a close-up of the bar with more of the surrounding material excluded in case you are still having trouble confirming the equivalence. No color editing has occurred. The third pic is simply an excerpt from the second.



The Horizontal Bar

Another example? The horizontal bar nearby is the same shade all the way across. Need verification? Of course you do. Below is an excerpt of the bar, reproduced without editing. Below that, a narrower excerpt excluding all external to the bar, in case that example would be more helpful for verification.





The Buttons

Here's another. You'll use your finger to help with this one.

The two buttons are actually the same color. Use your finger to cover the boundary between them and watch your eyesight adjust to interpret the shading more accurately. No fingers? Below are non-color edited excerpts of the "A" and "B" portions of the buttons nearby. From the exact same picture. What do you see now?



There are many more examples that can be given to show that nearby colors and shades and background lighting can impact what we are actually perceiving, even though what is actually be shown is demonstratively different. Let's move on to other interesting visual misinterpretations of reality.

Contrasting Colors

Nearby is a static picture. A single, static image. Motionless. Check is out. What do you see?

Many will see the spots in motion, especially as they scan the image visually. Again, is it really moving? Below is the same image, simply reproduced half the size. What do you think you see?



The Adjacent Circles

Want more apparently moving non-moving examples? Check this out.

It ain't moving! Want an easy way to verify that. Find a part of a circle that you believe to be rotating. Now stick your finger near it. Seems to stop doesn't it? Yet, check out another part of the diagram away from your finger, and it may still appear to be moving (to you.)

The Rotating Empty Spot

Finally, a moving example... with an image (or lack thereof) that is rotating around the circle.

There are only two colors ever shown - grey and pink. If you follow the rotating position of the absent lilac, generally that is all you may see.

But if instead you stare at " + " sign in the middle of the diagram, and allow the rotation to occur before you without following it, then you will "see" a third color in the place where the absent lilac would have been. And you will see that rotate around the circle.

When the lilac disappears, the adaptation of rods and cones in the retina leaves a green afterimage.

The Intertwined Circles

What about pattern recognition?

The colors in the drawing nearby give the illusion that the circles are intertwining.

They are actually concentric.

This is referred to as "Pinna's illusory intertwining effect".

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Why has ConserveLiberty exposed you to all these? Well, this chapter is about the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble. That ensemble's function is to help us determine if what we are perceiving is Real or is Unreal.

ConserveLiberty asserts that no one is 100% accurate in discerning between what they are perceiving as Real or Unreal. Not even you, actually. One or more of the examples above should have driven that home to you ... if you are sufficiently honest with yourself.

... Even though you were told that what you thought you were perceiving was not, in actuality what was being shown to you. Even though you may be (close to) perfectly sane.

We all have a default setting for our own biologically generated Reality Perception Ensemble, and it is a setting that is not likely to be "100".

And, if none of the illusions you just saw showed up to you as Real, and in fact you saw everything as it really was, then please contact ConserveLiberty. We'd like to hear from you!

Keep in mind that these illusions were intentionally picked as illusions that are experienced by nearly everyone. They are not intended to imply that they indicate a serious inability to differentiate between the Real and the Unreal such as is seen in cases of schizophrenia.

However, consider these examples at a more abstract level, understanding that biologically (physiologically and cognitively) our ability to understand what is really Real is dependant upon the "instrument" doing the detection and interpretation. Those "instruments" are our own individual bodies, and all of them have been put together differently. And thus, we will all approach reality and interpret reality differently from each other. Our ability to do that, leveraging our Reality Perception Ensemble will vary, innately, for each individual. Some will be fairly good at it. Others, less so. Still others ... schizophrenic.

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Before we proceed, it may be worth mentioning why ConserveLiberty has thought it a good idea to begin its more scientific exploration into the biological underpinnings of behavior, perception, and response with a discussion of what is known regarding schizophrenia.

Great question, if it occurred to you. And if that question did not occur to you, it should have. A few reasons (not inclusive) are:

• The perception of what is actually Real is not only quite important, it is also the result of a number of "Filters" implemented sufficiently well that a distinction between the Real and the "Not Real" or the Unreal can be made. The Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble, thus, is constructed from an ensemble of these filters working together. Any one of these filters, when not working optimally, therefore results in a reduced expression of the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble.
  
  Of course, the notion of "optimal" is dependent upon perspective. For now, we will use the perspective that "optimal" is what is required to express the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble trait such that the Real and the Unreal can be credibly perceived and understood as such.
  
  
  
  Filter as ensemble of components
• Thus, when the optimal activity of one or more of these filters within the Reality Perception Ensemble are reduced (for any number of reasons) such that the "default expression setting" (the "dial") for an individual is set lower than some certain threshold (not asserted what that setting is at this point), then the ability to make a distinction between the Real and the Unreal becomes so degraded that either are no longer able to be credibly separated. The Unreal is often mistaken for the Real. The Real may be mistaken for the Unreal. Confusion results. Fear and paranoia often result. Schizophrenia is often the diagnosis.
  
  
• The filters within the Reality Perception Ensemble are themselves also ensembles of physical, genetic, and environmentally contributions, which we refer to as individual components. Often, these different filters may even be composed of some of the same individual components.
  
  
• Thus, when some of the individual components making up the Reality Perception Ensemble are identified (even though their specific mechanistic role in the ensemble is not yet understood) it is also true that these individual components may be used within more than one of the filters making up the Reality Perception Ensemble. And ... these individual components may also be used in filters and ensembles that are not specifically a part of the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble.
  
  
• The above is consistent with what is observed in individuals that have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Quite often, they are also seen to have symptoms that are not associated specifically with the ability to distinguish between the Real and the Unreal. Yet, not all possess all the additional symptoms that are commonly observed. In other words, people diagnosed with schizophrenia are often described differently, having several different characteristics, even though they all show a reduced ability to judge credibly between the Real and the Unreal.
  
  
  
• Thus, many of the filters that we have already discussed, or may discuss in the future, may actually be filters that contribute to the Reality Perception Personality Spectrum Ensemble discussed in this chapter. Examples of such filters are:
  • Analytical Spectrum Personality Filter - actively seeks to break things down and verify what is actually present or meant in order to understand a thing
  • Pattern Recognition Personality Filter - actively seeks to recognize patterns and discriminate between appropriate actions or conclusions as a result of habituated, repeated experience.
  • The Faith (Requirement to Believe) Personality Filter - strong tendency to believe without additional rational confirmation. Paradigm challenge is not welcome.
  • The Imaginative (or Creative) Personality Filter - enables the ability to craft novel explanations or proposals from learned material that is different from the explanations commonly given and accepted.
  • Embrace of Indoctrinated Preferences Filter - hardens the embrace of (or commitment to) beliefs to the point that they will NOT be reconsidered when credible information is offered that is in conflict with those beliefs. Alternate views are simply dismissed, ignored. No reconsideration is ever attempted, or even contemplated to be made.
  • The Fact Recognition Personality Filter - yes, believe it or not, many are not as able as others to recognize actual facts as indeed actual facts. Similarly, consequences that repeatedly are seen to result from identified circumstances and are explainable rationally are not seen by others as consequences that credibly result from those circumstances. Usually, a strong Imaginative Personality Filter, when present, leads to comfort that alternate consequences can unfold from those circumstances (even though, in fact, such consequences have never been seen to unfold from those circumstances.) Again, actual facts are not recognized as actual facts, and actual consequences are not recognized as actual consequences. This filter is different from the Embrace of Indoctrinated Preferences Filter, although the perspective impact can often be the same.
  • Others not listed.

Got that?

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It is also important to define what is meant by schizophrenia.

There are a number of ways in which individuals may lose the ability to deal credibly with (differentiate between) what is Real vs. what is Imaginary. Accidents, strokes, other routes to brain damage or even congenital brain development issues can make it difficult or sometimes impossible to participate cognitively with the environment as it Really Is. And, it is possible that in some of these cases what is at cause (impacted) is also an individual component within the Reality Perception Ensemble.

However, to avoid confusion and to enable a helpful and relevant focus, it is important that we define what is meant when someone is described as being schizophrenic. That way, we are better able to understand the collection of individual components that contribute to the Reality Perception Ensemble, and avoid including those that are not directly involved.

The psychiatric profession has put a lot of effort into defining and refining the definition and diagnosis of schizophrenia. While agreement isn't complete (how can it be, since its cause is not entirely worked out, and since it presents in so many different ways?) its definition has narrowed significantly over time. This has had the result of improving focus and narrowing confusion among the research and medical communities.

Briefly, the symptoms of schizophrenia may be divided into 3 domains:

• Positive symptoms - Psychotic symptoms, such as hallucinations, which are usually auditory; delusions; and disorganized thoughts, speech, and behavior
• Negative symptoms - Decrease in emotional range, poverty of speech, and loss of interests, drive, and the formation of relationships; the person with schizophrenia has tremendous inertia
• Cognitive symptoms - Neurocognitive deficits (e.g., deficits in working memory and attention and in executive functions, such as the ability to organize and abstract); patients also find it difficult to understand nuances and subtleties of interpersonal cues and relationships

Mood symptoms are often noted. However, these occur with other psychiatric disorders as well and are not specific to schizophrenia. For example, individuals with schizophrenia may be cheerful or sad in a way that is difficult to understand. They often are depressed. Quite often, they may have an inability to experience pleasure.

Note that all these symptoms as they pertain to a diagnosis of schizophrenia share one area in common. The ability to differentiate between what is Real and what is Unreal, between what is Really Happening and what is Not Really Happening has been compromised. All of us have issues with differentiating between The Real and The Unreal from time to time due to our filter differences and the minor (and sometimes major) mistakes in judgement that we all occasionally make. However, those diagnosed with schizophrenia have significant issues, and many cannot differentiate credibly between The Real and The Unreal at all. In other words, all of us may make crazy mistakes now and then. In part, our filters, and our Reality Perception Ensemble may play a role in that. Perhaps we might hypothesize that for most of us, our Reality Perception Ensemble default is set somewhere above 70 or 80+. For schizophrenic individuals, their default settings are below 50 or 40 or 30. Who knows what we will ever determine those settings will be considered to be as our understanding of molecular mechanisms and diagnostic differentiation improve. But for now, you get the point, don't you?

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Let's move on to some recent research relevant to the biological (and thus genetic) basis underlying schizophrenia.

→ The Introduction was last updated 16 Nov 2016 21:30 PDT ←

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