Perception vs. Perspective: Can You Help Clarify the Difference with Examples?

Understanding the Difference Between Perception and Perspective

Can anyone clarify the difference between perception and perspective with examples?

Thanks.

This question remains unanswered or improperly answered for ages. In "perception," a belief or opinion often held by many people and based on how things seem is implied. Whereas, when it is "perspective," the volition of giving a meaning to what an individual thinks rests with that particular individual.

Suppose a young man goes with a young woman hand in hand, talking huskily with a smile on the face - the general perception will be they are lovers - however, one's perspective can be different and call them siblings.

I wish and hope I am clear to you. All the best.

Regards,
R. Ganesh

Ganesh has given a very good explanation and an apt example to bring out the difference between 'perception' and 'perspective'. I would still take the liberty of adding to his explanation to reinforce the distinction.

"Perceptions" are preconceived notions or impressions immediately formed in the mind (often based on past experience, assumptions, flawed logic). 'Perspectives', on the other hand, refer to a 'point of view' arrived at by using a mix of logical, creative, and strategic thinking coupled with inputs based on experience, rational assumptions, and outcome expectations. An example would be the styles adopted by an amateur playing any card game as opposed to a professional player. The former relies more on perceptions to guide his/her next move, whereas the latter could be guided by the perspective he/she takes in the overall context of the game as it progresses.

Trust my explanation helps bring more clarity.

Regards

Thank you for your comment about my post, but the fact is that you did a splendid job of explaining and clarifying the query posed. In fact, your reply actually set my mind thinking, and hence I took the liberty of adding my interpretation. By the way, there are very few who respond to the queries posed here with the kind of panache and flair that you have displayed in your reply. Take a bow, Ganesh.

Regards

Dear Mayank, Ganesh and Jacob have given good examples; here are definitions as per the Oxford Dictionary. I have also provided links for searching and finding for oneself. As a student in India, I came across the example given by Ganesh. There is a saying in Kannada, "Pratyakshisidaroo pramaaNisi noDu," which roughly means "Even when one has witnessed something, judge after enquiring under oath." For example, when my friend (male) and I used to go for a walk, the popular perception of our son's friends was that we were gay. They used to ask our son, "Does not your mum mind your dad going with a bloke?"

Perspective: "A particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view: most guidebook history is written from the editor's perspective" Oxford Dictionary found at definition of perspective from Oxford Dictionaries Online <link updated to site home>

Perception: "The way in which something is regarded, understood, or interpreted: Hollywood's perception of the tastes of the American public [count noun]: we need to challenge many popular perceptions of old age intuitive understanding and insight: [I]'He wouldn't have accepted,' said my mother with unusual perception" found at Oxford Dictionaries Online

Have a nice day.

Regards, Simhan

Understanding Perception and Knowledge Acquisition

Perception is the knowledge gained through the five senses: eyes, ears, tongue, nose, and skin. A person can acquire knowledge only through the following means:
1) Perception (through the five senses)
2) Inference (deriving ideas from ideas by associating, comparing, etc., through reasoning)
3) Intuition (e.g., the enlightenment of Buddha, believed to be divine wisdom).

So, by these means, people gain knowledge and begin to observe, think, approach, and evaluate things and situations based on the knowledge (perception + inference + intuition) they have. This means they think from their own perspective based on the knowledge they possess. For example, a man working in logistics will think about the shortest way to reach Delhi from Mumbai, a student of Finance will consider the most economical way to reach Delhi from Mumbai, and a tourist will contemplate the sceneries/historical places that can be visited while traveling from Mumbai to Delhi. These different angles of thought are known as perspectives, which are subjective and relative.

I would like to request you to read about the synthesis of rationalism and empiricism by Immanuel Kant.

Regards,
Mathew M T
SHCIL Projects Ltd
[Email Removed For Privacy Reasons]

I absolutely agree with Mr. B. Jacob. The only thing I would like to add is that perception is the judging of the surrounding, but perspective may be the thing one opts to believe about the surrounding. As in the example given by Mr. R. Ganesh: "Suppose a young man goes with a young woman hand in hand, talking huskily with a smile on the face—the general perception will be they are lovers; however, one's perspective can be different and call them siblings."

In this case, according to me, both views are perceptions, but which perception you would actually believe in will be your perspective about the man and the woman.

Regards,
Samarth