Article June 10, 2019 Issue

How do we know what is real?

Paul Trowbridge

Peck, peck, peck: A junco was darting, hopping, foraging, and flitting outside our house with tremendous energy. This small gray and white bird seemed to have great determination as he pecked relentlessly at our windows. He was apparently seeing his reflection as a competitor—a threat against which he dutifully guarded.

We might say the bird was well-meaning, but uninformed. He was not protecting his territory, but taking action against an unreal competitor. There was no threat from the reflection in the window.

The junco’s actions alerted me to watch my own assumptions about what I see in the world. How often are our actions based on our misperceptions? How do we know what is illusion and what is real?

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