SOPHIEWHITFIELD [THE BODY AND PERCEPTION]

The total number of participants to complete the survey was 47. Their location ranged from the United Kingdom and The United States of America, all the way to Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. On reviewing the responses the majority of the participants with 82% were women, mostly ranging in age from 17 years to 44 years of age. When asked if they believe in the Big Bang Theory, 78% of the participants agreed, also on explanation of the scientific notion of the multi-verse 82% of people agreed that they believed our universe is at a constant rate of expansion, which is creating multiple universes at any one time.

 

When participants were asked questions regarding their significance, more than half of the participants disagreed that we were insignificant. Therefore meaning they must feel as if there is a place for us here on this Earth.

 

Some of the findings appear to be contradict themselves slightly, for example; when participants where asked if they believe in alternate realities 56% answered no, however, in actual fact this is the same principle as the multi-verse  where 82% of the participants agreed. This could be due to the fact that they believe our universe is unique with the human race and that even if universes where being created they may not be quite like our own. A large part of this research has been to understand where all of these ideas have come from through ancient philosophy and cosmology, when participants where asked if they believed mathematics could explain the universe 55% of participants disagreed and 58% of the participants believed that we are unique and that there is a deeper meaning to life.

 

As part of my research is focused on the perception of the subconscious mind, the participants were asked whether or not they had ever experienced Deja vu, 89% of people agreed that they had experienced this before which makes it a fairly common notion. The fascinating side to this question was the variety of feedback received when asking the participants to explain in their own words, what they believed Deja Vu is, a selection of answers can be seen below:

 

‘Recalling something that has come into your subconscious maybe from a dream, I have heard that you have actually experienced whatever it is beforehand.’

‘I believe Deja vu is just a way of your brain processing memories.’

‘It's a sense, as many others senses that people don't know they have but still using it. (Telepathic, a feeling something bad it will happen and many more.)’

‘I think it's my brain associating similar situations to the one that is just being experienced.’

‘My religion (Islam) believes that an angel - the same angel responsible for giving life to a soul in the womb - shows us our whole life from beginning to end, to show how short it is. When we experience 'Deja Vu' it is because our souls have already seen it. From personal experience I have encountered this many times, this explanation to me fits perfectly due to the strong sense of familiarity to a very personal situation, and my minds strong believe that I have actually experienced this. Fascinating!’

‘Memory of a past life.’

‘A moment that occurs when you anticipate an experience you have already pictured or lived through. One almost may use these moments to connect dots and to find clarity in a particular decision that is significant in their journey.’

‘An experience where you feel like you've been there or seen it before in perhaps a dream or vision.’

 

Following this, they were asked if they believed the subconscious mind affected their dreams, 98% of the participants agreed. When asked what they believed what their subconscious mind was, in order to gain their personal interpretation, the following statements we given:

 

‘Alerts you to issues you aren't facing.’

‘Your sub-conscious is a state of mind in which you dream and contemplate the possibilities of each action you take throughout each day and how if you approached the decision differently as well as providing you with the necessity of life like having a fear or giving you hope.’

‘It makes you aware of your own actions and how it affects people, animals etc. and the environment around you. Being conscious of the after effects of what you do.’

‘The part of your mind that stores memories and emotions and experiences.’

‘Your sub-conscious is your guiding compass and it dictate's your life indirectly.’

‘It's like a sixth sense. I feel like I should believe in what my sub-conscious is telling me.’

‘The subconscious mind stores all of your previous life experiences, your beliefs, your memories, you skills, all situations you've been through and all images you've ever seen.’

 

From these responses, it is interesting to read about other people’s views and perceptions of these subconscious anomalies and what they understand to be and just what causes them to happen.

Interestingly, the open ended questions returned some in depth descriptions regarding the participant’s beliefs and opinions of imperative topics. For instance, when questioned if they believe in the existence of a soul and a form of life after death, one participant states:

 

 ‘I believe all the energy that we are made of is returned back to the earth. We only borrow our energy from nature and at the end of our lives we return back to whence we came.’

 

 

 

Towards the latter of the survey, the main ideas change, from first of all trying to understand a person’s beliefs regarding the origins of the universe and their understanding of scientific and psychological methods of reasoning physical reality; to questioning participants regarding their physical experience of reality and with regards to my proposal how certain elements of the earth evoke certain emotions.

 

When asked if they believe that to fully understand something you must experience it, 74% of people agreed, following this theme when asked if they thought that the essence of place in architecture has been supplanted by digital technology 45% of people agreed, yet 47% of people disagreed with this statement; showing that architecture is no longer something that most people celebrate it has become part of this mundane view in plain sight part of everyday life.

Relating directly to my proposal the survey inquired as to whether the participant ever looked out at the night sky, 65% of participants responded ‘yes, occasionally’ and 25% of participants responded ‘yes, always’. When asked how looking out and the stars in the night sky made them feel, they responded with the following ideas:

 

‘They make me reconsider most things I believe about life and how vast the universe is and is there more life out there.’

‘Calm, small, insignificant and powerful at the same time.’

‘Small.’

‘Amazed, Overwhelmed by beauty. Sometimes makes me feel small, a fraction of something bigger.’

‘At ease, spiritual, part of an unknown 'bigger picture'.’

‘At peace and present.’

‘Calm, concentrated, peaceful, relaxed, special.’

‘I feel small in comparison to the amount of stars in the sky.’

‘Makes me wonder what else is out there and why this’ all exists.

‘Big, cause we are made of stars.’

 

In addition, participants were asked why they believed we exist:

 

‘By accident.’

‘To experience. To learn and to grow.’

‘I think we exist by pure coincidence. I think we exist because we evolved from other forms and we will cease to exist at some point and will be replaced by other, more evolved species.’

‘Because of the good conditions for life on earth.’

‘Our soul has chosen to experience the human condition. Why souls exist. That is a different story.’

‘We are part of something huge that overtime has developed starting from nothing and that still could be much bigger... Who knows! Do we need all the answers or would wasting our short life span trying to find out drive us all crazy. I'd rather spend my years just being and existing in happiness.’

‘Chance, life is a probability.’

 

What is evident here is the fact that there are so many different opinions as to our unique existence and why we are here through the process of evolution. The theme of significance is a domineering topic which, from these results seems to be quite uncomfortable through the human condition of knowledge, as no one wants to believe that our life counts for nothing.

 

To end the survey poetically, the research referenced a professor from Harvard University who believes that we are all ‘stardust’ when asked if they agree with this statement 52% of participants agreed and 48% did not.