How we receive information through our senses. Two people might see, hear, smell, taste, or touch the same thing, yet honestly perceive it in a completely different way. A modern application of this is to say, “The perception is the reality.” It implies that the way we perceive an item is much more important that what it actually is. (If I hand you a candy bar as a reward for past performance, but you perceive it as a bribe for future behavior, no amount of explanation on my part is likely to change your mind.)
