the five windows

Our concept of the external world is formed by what we are able to perceive of it. Our perceptual organs have developed through evolution to be extremely useful for making quick sense out of our immediate surroundings. We subconsciously reduce an extremely large amount of stimuli down to essential clues about our surroundings and then try to fill in the gaps in our observation with details from previously encountered objects and things that we are expecting to see. We often mistake our perception of the world for ‘the world’ when in fact there are many other types of stimuli that we are not physically able to perceive but which carry just as much information as the ones that we are able to.

What is important about the types of stimuli that we can perceive that we have adapted to select them as opposed to others (electromagnetic fields, or low frequency sounds for example) and what would our world-view be if we could perceive them as well or instead?

In what way do we tie our mental model of the world to our physical mechanisms of perception?

How can we use technological tools to perceive a broader range of energy and more full picture of the world and can we overcome our instinct towards reduction?