Expectation Determines Experience
It’s natural to assume that we see the world empirically, through our five senses. But if that were true, we'd all see the world the same way because we all have the same five senses.
Sensory information can give us a lot of information. This is the argument of science. The scientific method tests empirical information to understand our world better. It’s great for studying nature, the body, and even the world on a molecular level, but it’s limited. There are aspects of reality that we cannot experiment on. Science can track the migratory patterns of birds and break the genetic code, but it cannot explain abstract realities, such as love, hope, and psychological angst. Science can answer the question “how”, but it cannot answer “why.”
No one merely experience the world through the senses. A better way to explain how we see the world is that expectations determine experience.
Neuropsychiatrist John Lieff writes,
[In the brain,] there are far more neuronal signals coming down (top-down) from the higher cortex than incoming (bottom-up) from sensory signals. These top-down signals modulate and massage the incoming signals, ultimately determining what is gleaned from the sensory information.
Two different brain processes are making predictions and taking in information over time to make a decision. It is not a simple linear progression of information being analyzed. Rather it is a complex series of loops and feedback that involve a large amount of top-down signals—expectations and possibilities—meeting and modulating bottom-up sensory information with back and forth communication.
Your experience of life has far more to do with your worldview, beliefs, attitude, and expectations than the environment you’re in.
Paul said, “We walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). He was speaking about how a Christian should live his life, but we can make the application that everyone walks by a worldview (faith) and not strictly by sensory information (sight).
Whether you realize it or not, you have a worldview, a way of interpreting your environment. It is important to understand the “lens” through which you see the world. What is it? Will it guide you properly?
Here are some common ways people interpret their world:
· Humanism: “Live your life according to self-interest and the common good.” But what do we do when the “common good” hurts minorities? Also, can I really know enough to determine what's best for me or for all in the long run?
· Hedonism: “If it feels good, do it.” Hedonism asks, “What brings the most pleasure and the least amount of pain?” But instant gratification often leads to hardship in the future.
· Relativism: “There is no objective truth. Life's meaning is different for each person.” We hear this a lot. When someone says, “Be true to yourself,” or, “Live your own truth,” they are promoting relativism. But a lot of evil can be justified through this philosophy. What if someone's “truth” is harmful to themselves or others?
· Nihilism: “Life has no meaning.” Because this philosophy cannot explain why we suffer and makes life seem senseless, it leads to depression, anxiety, and even suicide.
The “faith” Paul spoke of was Christian faith. In the Bible, God gives us a way of seeing the world. According to this worldview, there is good and evil. There is a God who created us in his own image and who is active in the world. Things happen for a reason, and God hears our prayers. Redemption is possible through Jesus Christ. Death is not the end but only the beginning of eternity.
How do you see the world? You are interpreting it according to a world view. Is your philosophy guiding you toward happiness and to eternal life?
Drew Kizer