Reality Distortion

Why Perspective Matters

Andrew Ginzberg
Aug 28, 2017 · 4 min read

I have come to the understanding that reality is driven by the perspective we choose to see it through. What this means is that reality is not universal or objective. Reality is how you choose to perceive it. We all could have attended a rally, stood next to each other the entire time, and still, could each have had completely different reactions to what was going on.

We assume that the media is showing us the “reality” of important events shaping our world, but they are only really showing us just one in an infinite number of perspectives. The organizations that control the media are not built to cover more than their own perspective. The entire media industry was built with a business model that caters to showing their audience one perspective. Telling a single narrative. This, combined with the increased reliance on media through emerging technology has resulted in a paradox that I have come to call Reality Distortion. Most people misleadingly call it Fake News.

Reality, now more than ever, seems to be spinning into a constant and irreplaceable state of distortion. More and more, we are seeing people have drastically different interpretations of what is going on in the world based upon what they see through the lens of the media. It is near impossible to get a liberal and a conservative in a room together and have them reach commonality.

Why does this matter?

Reality distortion delves beyond just influencing our understanding of what is going on in society today. It is about preserving our individual identities as we begin to enter a not so distant future powered by virtual reality and artificial intelligence.

Change is inevitable and ongoing. As humans, our identities and our points of view are shaped by the biological changes our bodies make, as well as external changes in society and culture. The reality we develop from those changes is perceived through our senses, which provide each of us a very unique and individualized take on the world.

Throughout time, the evolution of human consciousness went slow and unnoticed. But we have reached a pivotal point in the understanding of mankind where the influx of technology in these past few decades has actually made these changes so fast that they are actually perceivable. Technology in the media is constantly augmenting our senses, morphing the ways in which we see, touch, and even hear things. We are now in a disposition where change is so explicitly constant, that we see these changes from year to year, and constantly are having to shift our identities to adapt to them. To reduce the confusion and chaos in our heads, we attach ourselves to “communities” that have one specific set of values, and one perspective on reality.

The media industry is aware of technology’s influence on our misplaced identities, and is exploiting it to make money. Social media has algorithms that learn from our consumption habits to provide us only content pertaining to the communities we are a part of. That content is commented on and liked by our loved ones, further increasing the distortions in our reality, and providing them a higher probability of us clicking on their ads. And then media companies call each other out for lying in an attempt to keep their supporters believing what they are saying is the truth.

How Do We Fix This?

Which one is right?

The truth of the matter is that reality is constantly being distorted, regardless of whether we realize it or not. It happens in arguments with lovers, as well as in competitions with enemies. How many times have you entered into an argument with a friend where you both were 100% sure you were right and the other was wrong? And if both parties truly believe they are correct, who is the “winner”? We use our senses (our touch, our taste, our sight) as tools to grasp our understanding of these situations, and these ‘truths’ are what make our identities. But if they are misread or misinterpreted, senses are also inhibitors for experiencing ‘true’ and ‘unbiased’ reality. To reach a higher form of enlightenment, we must gain mastery over them.

In eastern philosophy, monks used tools like meditation to gain mastery over the senses. The goal of meditation was to perceive the world beyond themselves, and learn to experience it through others. To become in tune with the environment around them by experiencing it through multiple perspectives. This, of course, took a lifetime of mastery, and was before there was a symbiotic relationship between the media and our conscious self. To gain control over reality today, we must find ways to use technology as a way to efficiently allow us access to multiple perspectives, instead of restrict us to only one. To experience an event through as many points of view as possible, as quickly as possible. And as people begin to understand that reality is not solely defined by hard cold facts, but more so by of our perceptions of them, we can begin to find compassion with alternate points of view, discover commonalities, and collectively reach a higher state of enlightenment.

This is the power of multiple perspectives, and is the guiding mission of Loki. To provide the first way of seeing real events, uninhibited, through as many authentic perspectives as possible. As technology continues to improve, we will evolve the media industry to meet humanities needs of better perceived reality.

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