Читать книгу The Interpersonal Communication Playbook - Teri Kwal Gamble - Страница 135

What we tell ourselves about what we perceive can also limit our ability to perceive accurately. In effect, the act of blindering—that is, forcing ourselves to see people and situations only in certain ways, as though we are wearing blinders—keeps us from seeing who or what is really before our eyes.

Accurate perception depends on the ability to see what is there without being limited by imaginary restrictions or boundaries. When, for example, scientists stopped searching for the cause of malaria in the air (the word malaria comes from the Italian for “bad air”) and looked for other causes, they soon traced the origin of the disease to the Anopheles mosquito and were then able to find a cure. The following exercise can help you understand the concept of blindering: Draw four straight lines to connect all of the dots below, without lifting your pencil or pen from the page or retracing a line.

Most people have difficulty completing this exercise because they add a restriction that is not actually there—they assume the figure is a square. (See the solution at the end of this chapter.)