Perception as a Defining Factor in Our Lives - 772 Words

Perception is a defining factor in all of our lives. Perception affects the way every action, choice, and decision we make is perceived. Though societal influences perception can be shaped based upon bias. The world is filled with it religious, political, sexual, and gender bias just to name a few. It is because of these biases that peoples perception is narrowed and what is deemed as â€Å"civilized† or the â€Å"right† thing to do may not always be one hundred percent true. In the book Walden by Henry David Thoreau we see a man who has looked past social norms and blazed his own path towards individual enlightenment. This is again illustrated in Lars Eighner’s essay, On Dumpster Diving. Here we see an individual that practices something that most†¦show more content†¦By being able to see things this woman had thrown away Eighner was able to discover what had happened to her. This idea illustrates the main concept of his essay which is that what we thro w way may not be waste. It still may hold worth possibly as far a usefulness goes, but it holds worth because it shows the impact that you have made on the world. It illustrates your perceptions of what you think waste is and what you deem damaged enough to throw away. In Thoreau’s book we learn that he has traveled away from society to try and find enlightenment in the nature surrounding Walden pond. In the passage â€Å"Where I lived, and What I lived For† Thoreau explains where he could have lived and why he decided to choose Walden Pond as his home. Thoreau wanted to get away fro every perception that society had at that time period. He just wanted to escape that all and so he left civilization and traveled to Walden where he could live a simpler, more enlightened life. Thoreau expresses his view points on societal perceptions when he make the statement, â€Å"Let us spend one day as deliberately as Nature, and not be thrown off the track by every nutshell and mos quitos wing that falls on the rails.† (Thoreau, 421). What this means is that he believed that societal perceptions were distracting himself as well as everyone else from true enlightenment. These distractions kept everyday people from seeing the real beauty and wonder in they lives. ItShow MoreRelatedThe Day Of Everyday Life1274 Words   |  6 Pages Throughout the walk of everyday life, we may find ourselves within the personal lives of others, giving us the option to either turn the other way and pay no attention, or to observe, and learn something about those individuals’ lives. 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