Bam 13A

We see and understand things not as they are but as we

are. Discuss this claim in relation to at least two ways of
knowing.
Every human being is a unique individual, we have our own
minds that allow us to think, judge and see for ourselves. First, we
receive the information, then using our ways of knowing; selfperception, emotion, language and reason, to understand and
conclude something as truth. The claim, We see and understand
things not as they are but as we are shows that people chose their
way of thinking in two ways. We understand things, as they are is
where we choose to think that there is a reason behind it. While,
we understand things as we are are how we choose to follow our
emotions to judge it.
Emotion is a strong feeling, for example, happiness or anger.
Some decisions in life are so complicated for people; therefore, they
came to rely on their intuition.
Reason is a term that is used a lot in different ways, for example,
these prices are very reasonable, she acted reasonably, or there
was no reason why she did that. Reason is defined as a cause,
explanation or justification, good or obvious cause to do something
and what is right. 1 Things, defined as a physical object, an idea or a
concept are no longer seen as they are. During the process of our
understanding, we add our on opinion or subjectivism in it. Such as
our abilities, culture and experience.
As things are are only what they are in context to what we are. A
monkey may see a rock, while we see a diamond, however, it does
not mean we did not see the diamond as it is. Seeing what we need
to see or what we see without looking for it is called the
"conceptual" way of knowing, which begins with the "acquisition of
knowledge". Moreover, someone who consider themselves as bad at
math, would assume that the subject is uninteresting and boring,
they would then turns it into emotions, such as hatred towards the
subject. However, math is actually useful and convenient in our
daily lives, which could be the reason.
Culture refers to many characteristics of a group of people, including
attitudes, behaviors, customs and values that are conveyed from
one generation to the next.2 Cultures throughout the world share
many similarities, but are also unique in their own and show many
differences. For example, while people of all cultures experiences
happiness, how this feeling is expressed varies from one culture to
the next. Chinese people, in large restaurants, understand that
shouting across tables is normal and acceptable. Whilst for Japanese
1 http://www.theoryofknowledge.net/ways-of-knowing/reason/
2 http://psychology.about.com/od/branchesofpsycholog1/f/crosscultural.htm

Bam 13A
people, shouting in restaurants is seen as rude and impolite or
disrespectful. However, who we are can be more than the cultural
settings that we are accustomed to. With understanding and respect
for others, individuals can accept different practices by other
cultures. Foreigners may even embrace them and enjoy the local.
With references to the socio-cultural psychology, there are in-group
and out-group, the in group is when people are assigned in a
group we are the in group, while out group is the other group.
Stereotypes is a mental representation of a social group and its
member, and prejudice is the cultural attitude that rests on
negative stereotypes about individuals or groups because of their
cultural, religious, racial or ethnic background. For example, in the
stereotypes of American high school, there are different social
groups, such as the cheerleaders, footballers, nerds, musicians and
the emo. Each of the social groups is an in-groups and would think
that the others are the out-groups. The cheerleaders, which are the
popular, would judge the nerds, which is not like them, and is less
popular. Therefore, they use their emotions on judging them, such
as seeing the nerds as boring and would develop loathing towards
them. However, the nerds might have a reason behind their acts, for
example, how they are raise or the force of their parents to enroll in
a particular university.
Therefore, with an open-mind, we can see things as who
others are, or simply what it is, instead of who we are.