Understanding the nature of perception can be beneficial for avoiding mental constriction. Perception is composed of both constructed and actual reality. Constructed reality is an amalgamation of ideas that can be experienced through the five senses and are influenced by projections of the mind. For example, if there is an individual who shall desire to perceive a group of individuals (the “idea”) in a certain manner (the “mental projection”) and the individual is attached to this manner, then the individual’s own constructed reality will mold in the applicable way.

            Such phenomena on a larger scale are what allow organisms like human civilizations to exist. As a civilization, humans embrace a collective constructed reality and, as long as they generally concede the silently-agreed-upon projections onto the ideas around them, the civilization can function. For example, in a civilization, if a certain set of beliefs (the “idea”) is thought to be the morally proper way of interacting with other humans (the “mental projection”), then the collective constructed reality will mold to reflect these beliefs as a standard for interpersonal interactions.

            Social fragmentations of these civilizations, these organisms, occur when existing mental projections from the dominant faction are challenged by a powerful opposing faction of the total organism. When fragmentation occurs, the most powerful faction, through psychological and physical warfare, seeks to influence the collective constructed reality to match the mental projections of their own faction and, therefore, determine the mental projections which will be accepted as part of the collective constructed reality.

            The arena of constructed reality is finite because the subject can be fixated on only a finite number of mental projections. (Otherwise, the reality is not palpable because a constructed reality relies on confines not limitlessness. Some mental projections will inevitably contradict other mental projections.) Inside this finite area, there is the concept of identity, which can be denoted by any number of ideas and corresponding mental projections within this arena. Identity is a personal attachment to projections that the subject believes define the subject’s own physical and psychophysical manifestation. This may come in the form of narratives, somatic and psychological idiosyncrasies, physical characteristics, or any other classifications. A civilization may believe it is the ‘greatest in the world’ or a ‘monarchy’; a person may believe she herself is ‘interesting’ or ‘American.’  

            For the individual, identities are often granted by the organisms of which they comprise: a university, a family, an entourage. Nonetheless, identity is a personal attachment—influenced in varying degrees by projections of the individual’s greater organisms—but ultimately accepted and therefore, dictated, by the individual.

            Unlike constructed reality, actual reality is the immediate world around the subject as perceived through the five senses, but it is a perception that is uninfluenced by the mind. This reality is simply composed of cause and effect. As part of a larger organism, resolutely perceiving life through actual reality is impossible because, in order for the larger organism to survive, constructions must be adopted. One cannot simply observe the cause, a food shortage for instance, and witness the effect, starvation; the cause or effect would need to be addressed to maintain the health of these larger organisms. Therefore, in this example, the applicable moral standards would need to be constructed to avoid such faults.

           Individuals who wholly embrace constructed reality may never realize the concept of actual reality. They become absorbed by these constructions. Often, they accept these constructions as “truth” and then feel constricted by this narrowness of “truth.” In actual reality, where everything is merely cause and effect, the constructions are easily noticed. Individuals can realize elements of our perception, whether that be institutions that keep us physically alive or egos that fuel our grandiose view of ourselves, are fabrications that rest on ephemeral constructions, all of these constructions being mental projections (on ideas) that can be easily dismissed through change—though they may not seem likely to change. Mental projections don’t exist in actual reality and, therefore, there are no mental projections onto ideas. There is no conception of mental projections like ethnicity, morality, or other sociocultural fabrications—only cause and effect.

            However, if an individual is to survive, they cannot solely live within actual reality. Only perceiving actual reality within constructed reality makes it difficult to live within the organism, because the constructions are the methods of survival for the organism and, therefore, oftentimes, the individual as well. However, understanding actual reality is crucial for the individual living within constructed reality. Actual reality is mindfulness, a state of mind that allows one to perceive the truth. This truth is the aforementioned cause and effect. Acknowledging actual reality allows individuals to better interact with constructed reality because they can then perceive this cause and effect. They can adapt to this constructed reality or even challenge it. Ultimately, individuals’ perceptions become no longer vulnerable to their immediate surroundings or to mindless fixations that detrimentally affect them. They are no longer constricted by their own mentalities. They are free.