Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
pump produces under different circumstances. This learning process can
be enhanced if a senior colleague teaches the new colleague step by step
to learn to understand the processes in the system and how he can relate
the sounds generated by the pump to these different processes.
Case 2
A young driver still has no frame of reference by which she can under-
stand the subtle signals that other road users send. For example, when a
car in front slows down, it might mean that there is an obstacle on the
road, that another car which has priority wants to enter the road, or
that the driver doubts whether he has arrived at the place of destination.
Usually, we can find out what really is the case if we combine the car
'
s
slowdown with other cues. The better we understand what
s happening,
the better we can anticipate possible situations and avoid accidents.
A driving instructor can help students gain this frame of reference.
'
What can we learn from this cataract story and the two examples?
First, we must realize that what we now see, hear, and smell feels so
natural, that we cannot imagine that others may not sense the same
when they are confronted with the same input. For us, there is no dif-
ference between the way we sense the world and what we call reality.
Second, it is hard to imagine that somebody else perceives the same
world in a different way and also calls that his reality. Even when our
understanding of the world grows (for example, the meaning of the
sound of the pump) and we gain a richer perception, we tend to forget
how we perceived the world earlier. So if you image your own team
discussing a problem and see your colleagues, each with a different
background and experience, you must realize that they all have their
own view on a problem and all construct their reality about what
s
going on. This can make a team discussion troublesome because you
don
'
t understand. On the other side, it can
also be very interesting to share the different views on reality and to
learn from each other
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t understand why they don
'
'
s perception.
We can only perceive what we know.
If we translate these principles to work, we have to realize that
everybody who starts in a new job has not only to learn to understand
butalsotoperceivewhatisthere.In the beginning, when everything is
