What is top-down processing?

Top-down processing is a concept in personal epistemology: You never perceive raw reality — your beliefs, expectations, and mood always color perception.

Example: You walk into a meeting already convinced the proposal will fail. You notice every hesitation in the presenter's voice, every unclear slide, every skeptical expression around the table — and miss the three moments where the data actually supported the plan. Your colleague, who walked in curious, noticed the opposite. Same meeting. Different filters. Different reality.

This concept is part of Phase 5 (Observation Without Judgment) in the How to Think curriculum, which builds the epistemic infrastructure for observation without judgment.