See when others look
Dialogues
“And if you invite them to guidance, they will not hear, and you see them looking at you while they do not perceive.” (Al-A’raf 198).
One looks at something, an issue, or a person without examining it to ascertain its reality, whereas one “perceives” it when focusing one’s thought on understanding its true nature, particularly uncovering its inner essence. Perception also involves anticipating early on the outcomes and consequences of events unfolding in life. I believe that a wise person, in today’s world characterized by different layers of reality, should deeply perceive what is happening around them, at least to preserve their own safety and that of those concerned, and to plan their future in a beneficial manner, shielding themselves from harm. Among the factors that contribute to making an individual perceptive—especially those that help them transcend external appearances and see the realities and inner truths of things—are the following:
- Overcoming psychological biases: A person perceives the true nature of an issue when they aim to see it clearly, transcending their psychological biases. Human psychological biases generally cloud perception, disrupt objective thinking, and prevent seeing things, issues, people, and events as they truly are. Those who succeed each time in overcoming their accumulated biases will be closest to sound judgment.
- Transcending appearances and perceiving realities: The brilliance of certain external appearances does not prevent a wise person from seeing the inner realities of matters, recognizing that these are artificial coverings designed either to present something as something it is not, or to conceal obscure objectives that the pretender, the liar, and the manipulator do not wish to reveal to people.
- Do not be confused by the noise: A perceptive individual is not affected by the clamor emanating from some disturbed individuals, along with their pretentious behaviors. What matters to them are the true messages and intended goals. Noise (fanfare) is like dust that clings to the air, obscuring vision; however, once it settles on the ground, the realities will appear as they are in their original nature.
- Understanding the laws of life: A person perceives when they learn from repeated life lessons and strive to understand historical patterns, especially when they firmly establish in their mind, through serious contemplation, a comprehensive knowledge of expected human behaviors. At that point, deception, boasting, hypocrisy, evasiveness, and manipulation will no longer deceive them.
A Kuwaiti writer
