PSYCHOLOGY

We See What We Want to See

How our motivations influence our perception

Image of ambiguous horse-seal, devised by Gerald H. Fisher in 1968.

My younger self, during the 31 years I spent in the Children of God cult, provides a great example of how someone sees what they are motivated to see.

During those years, I saw the world as a dichotomy of “us” vs “them” — my in-group “brothers and sisters” and outsiders, what…