"Perception is reality"

[RuthWeiner@AOL.COM]

My disagreement with this concept is that it results in misapplication of resources, which can have dangerous or even fatal consequences. 


Perceptions that have no consequence for anyone except the person doing the perceiving are not of concern, to me at least.  Re the "flat earth" example: I certainly wouldn't hire a crew member who believed the ship would fall off the end of the earth -- not in 2002, anyway -- and if the individual were a passenger, it would be up to him or her to decide whether to try the voyage.  I'd tell that person that we have approximately 500 years of evidence to the contrary, and I agree with Ted and Kai and others that this irrational belief  shouldn't be confirmed.


A more realistic (and "rad-related" ) example is the person who does not wish to work with radioactive materials at all because of fear of the consequences of any exposure.  That is that person's choice, clearly.  One can only present the facts of the situation and allow the individual to make up his or her own mind.


However, the "rub" comes when perception results in poor decisions that affect more than just the "perceiver."  Promoting laetrile as a cancer cure led a number of cancer sufferers to avoid effective treatments for too long.  Currently the United States spends a great deal of money and resources mitigating the putative effects of radioactive materials spills and too little protecting children's health (and adult health) from less exotic but far more damaging impacts.  Imagined radiophobia can result in avoiding routine dental x-rays and other medical applications of ionizing radiation.  There are many other examples.


How is such perception best changed?  It seems to me one has to tell the truth, as several correspondents have noted, and one has to tell it unequivocally.  The earth is not flat, and the ship won't fall off the end.  A lifetime of dental x-ray is most likely to result in good dental care and healthy teeth and gums and very unlikely to result in cancer.  The money currently spent on implementing regulation of ionizing radiation would save a lot more lives if it were spent on health insurance for the uninsured.  





Ruth Weiner, Ph. D.

ruthweiner@aol.com