title: The many faces of reality.
abstract: Reality has many faces, depending on who is judging or describing a situation or event. A person's view of reality is strongly influenced by his or her perceptions, values, biases and beliefs, and reality is therefore a relative term. Even the ability to determine the reality of an object through objective instruments and measures is limited. Most people accept the principle that there is not a single absolute reality about an event, but many realities which depend on the perceptions of the observer. Reality can be shaped in various ways: governments often attempt to shape reality for their citizens; myths and misconceptions abound; and personal activities influence our beliefs. Trying to understand reality teaches one to understand that there is no single reality or truth and no simple answer or approach to achieve a full understanding. In the pharmaceutical industry, to develop pharma sense, one must understand the universe of perspectives that can be brought to the specific issue or question being addressed.
authors.affiliation: Scientific and Regulatory Affairs of PhRMA, Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Spilker