Perceiving vs. Knowing

The words “perceiving” and “knowing” are very similar yet are also very different.

When you perceive something, you believe that it exists. You may not have seen it with your own eyes and know for sure that it is real or valid. But, you believe that it exists due to information that you have gathered (sometimes from many sources). The “thing” that exists may be another person’s feelings, an object behind a locked door (which you may not have seen yourself), or a situation discussed in recent gossip. If you haven’t seen the object behind the locked door then you do not know for sure that it exists. But, you may perceive that it exists because a friend of yours told you that it was, in fact, there. Or, perhaps you have seen the object and you know that it was a blue telephone, for example. Even now that you have seen the object, you may perceive it a different way than your friends have. Perhaps they believe that the phone is worthless, but you see it as a magnificent treasure. When you perceive something, you have not necessarily observed it the “right way” or the “wrong way”. One object, feeling, or situation may be seen a million different ways. Every person perceives the world around him or her in his or her own personal way.

When you know something, you are sure that it exists. You have experienced or seen it first hand. When you “know” something, you have no doubts because you are sure about it. Although, there is only one real way of “knowing” something. For example, if Student A claims to “know” that tigers are mammals and Student B claims to “know” that tigers are amphibians, then one of the students does not really “know”. “Knowing” differs from “perceiving” because when you “know” something, you can be correct or incorrect. There is only one correct way of knowing something because regardless of the person’s personal way of looking at that situation, there is only one way to “know’ it for sure. For example, a man’s shirt cannot be solid green and solid red at the same time. If two children watch a scene in a soap opera where a boy throws a pencil at the ground. The first child is distracted by his mother but the second child watches the scene closely. When asked what the boy did in the soap opera scene, the first child says “I know that he put the pencil on the table” and the other child says “I know that he threw the pencil at the ground”. Only the second child can accurately claim to know what happened. The first child is incorrect.

When you “know something” you know it for a fact. When you “perceive something”, you are pretty sure it has happened but do not know first hand. “Knowing” and “perceiving” are similar because they both have to do with interpreting information and understanding it to the best of your potential.

When you know something, you must also perceive it. This is because you acknowledge that it exists. You look at it the way that it is and therefore know that it is valid. But, when you perceive something, you do not necessarily have to know it. Like the example with the object behind the locked door, you may perceive that it is there because your friends tell you that it is. But, you do not “know” for sure that it exists. You are simply using the information provided to you to come to a satisfactory conclusion, without actually “knowing” for sure.

Although “knowing” something may imply that you understand it inside and out, there are several different depths of knowledge. A boy may “know” that his mother is crying because he saw her tears but may also not know that his mother is crying because she is happy. In this case, the boy knows first hand that his mother is shedding tears. But, if he does not understand the entire situation (such as why she is crying), then he only “knows” the situation to a certain extent. The further a person explores the things that he knows, the more knowledge he will gain about those things. Therefore, one type of knowledge can be superior to another. It is a good idea for one to explore the circumstances surrounding what he or she “knows”. This will allow him or her to understand it even further and possibly perceive it in a different way than he or she would have.