Perceptions, Illusions & Reality
But, we have yet to hear his stand on the death penalty or whipping, and even if he had made a stand on those issues, it was not articulated with the same intensity as his stand on Hudud.
Matthias Chang, FutureFastForward
Please observe the following pictures:
You would agree that in the top picture, the upper horizontal line is longer than the lower; in the middle picture, the left vertical line is longer than the right; and in the bottom picture, the top horizontal line is longer that the lower.
But, let me assure you that if you measure the lines, they are exactly the same length. The above three pictures are commonly referred to as the Muller-Lyer illusion and is one of the most famous of illusions. It was created by German
psychiatrist Franz Muller-Lyer in 1889.
Now that you know for a fact that the lines are exactly the same length, yet whenever you look at the three pictures, you or rather your mind refuses to acknowledge the reality that the lines are of the same length. Try as hard as you can, your eyes refuse to acknowledge the reality.
What has this got to do with political propaganda?
Let me explain.
Whenever we make a judgment, conclusion and or a decision, we are often affected by what we see and intuitively we make a hasty decision because we believe that our eyes don’t lie. This is even so, when as stated above, the lines are of the exact same length, our eyes somehow refuse to accept the reality and this “refusal” persists to the extent that we refuse and or fail to rectify this apparent error.
Look at the three pictures again and did your experience not confirm what I have stated?
You can see how stubborn we can be in not acknowledging the reality.
Once we have made a major decision solely on the basis of an observation (as in the case above) we find it very difficult to change our mind or our decisions, even though we know that it is wrong. Call it “ego”, “stubbornness” or whatever, but it is the sad reality that we often cling on to this illusion.
Now let me apply the Muller-Lyer illusion to politics, specifically propaganda in politics.
Let us now analyse the idiotic stance of one of our politicians from the Opposition coalition, Mr. Karpal Singh and his judgment, decision and or conclusion that he must oppose Hudud come hell or high water. He perceives himself as the champion of the secular society and has said that Hudud can only be implemented over his dead body. Such bravado!
But, what is the reality?
Obviously, if two-thirds of the members of parliament were to legislate that Hudud be implemented, there is nothing Karpal Singh can do about it, more so when he is dead and buried. Some would even say – good riddance!
Again, who is Karpal Singh to insist that members of PAS who are Muslims have no right to promote and or even demand that Hudud be implemented as part of their political agenda? It is the religious belief of the PAS members that as Muslims, they must implement Hudud, no matter how galling it may be for Karpal Singh.
Likewise, who are we to judge Karpal Singh as a deviant and a traitor to his religion for not wearing a turban as is required of all those who profess Sikhism as their faith?
