I was watching the Ohio River a few weeks ago. One thing about it that has always interested me is that it always seems, on the surface, to be flowing in any direction except the direction it is actually flowing. Often, it appears, on the surface, to be going backwards.
It seems to me that often our perceptions work like this. We look at the surface only, and never dig deep enough to get at deep realities. Truth, itself, is a type of river. Things that work happen in systems in motion. They never operate with perfect consistency in social systems, since they are complex, but on balance they all flow in the same direction. Capitalism works, but it is not perfect. Democracy works, but it is not perfect. Flaws happen, water get stuck in eddies that never quite resolve themselves, but the eddies move, and different water composes them.
The whole task of perception is to look at the big picture. Had I thrown a float on the water, I would have seen soon enough what way the water was going, and researching social realities is no different.