The Curse of Perception Debt

'Technical Debt'. 

For software developers, this doesn't need any introduction. It is the curse of a poorly designed software system. The poor design makes it difficult to release new features without adding to the mess. As system becomes older over time, with every change, it leads to unexpected behaviours. The results are for everyone to see: Stagnant product and less motivated software engineers. 

So, how do we prevent it? 

 By spending time and effort in building a rock solid and extensible system design and by coming back to the design each time we build a new product or an extension to the product. 

Now, let's consider what I call 'Perception Debt'. 

I define it as the curse of a poorly designed perception interface. Our world is a projection of our perception. Our reality is our creation, quite literally, and it depends on our process of perception - which is a combination of our sensations, thoughts and feelings. Each interaction with the world generates a response within and whether we like it or not, the code is generated and indexed in our memory bank - both in the body and the mind.

Let me elaborate this with a simple example. 

When I look at a flower, a sensation has already risen in the body, even before I capture my experience in my mind as a thought of admiration. I get evoked in a certain way which could lead to some action. (E.g. I might feel joyful or I might feel a sense of wonder which may tempt me to take a selfie with the flower in the background). The same goes for a fearful experience. 

Now comes the tricky part. 

Once the object or the situation that gave us a particular experience goes away, the code pertaining to the experience stays in the body. As one psychologist succinctly put it, our bodies keep the score and perception debt keeps piling , leading to entrenched thought patterns, mental conditioning and deep seated beliefs. 

The process of perception is always in a state of evolution. Perception Debt is the burden of our unresolved sensations, thoughts and feelings that constitute our experience of the world and shape our constantly evolving process of perception. 

What about consequences? 

Well, it's a debt at the end of the day, so the consequences aren't nice, to put it mildly. Perception debt directly correlates to what we call stress. We lose the motivation to aspire and achieve, we burn out easily and often times our bodies give up in some form of illness. It's like a pair of glasses that keeps gathering dust and distorts or even blocks our view, unless we put efforts to clean it. 

Nasty right? So, how do we prevent it? 

Just like we would invest time and conscious effort to design software well, it requires us to invest in understanding our process of perception and designing our body and mind interface well. Let it work for us and not against us. Let us use it to be the best that we can be. 

And that is what Yoga is all about! 

I often get a lot of queries regarding how Yoga compares to many other forms of exercises. And the short answer is this. The aim of Yoga is to primarily enhance the mind-body perception interface. The means to this end is our breath. Have you explored your breath?