NEW SERIES: Observations and
Ruminations
No 2: What is Reality?
by Mahendra Gonsalkorale
Our Feelings colour our
perceptions
Perceptions rely on received
information
Information is channelled through
sensory gateways,
and motor ones,
and stored memories too.
The final reality as we perceive
is our interpretation
of information through our brain
or mind/brain
What is really “real” will forever
be a mystery.
The information we receive and
base our perceptions on
may take so much time to reach us
that the “now” as we see, such as a Star
could have happened light years
ago
Or, where our “now” is no longer
occupied by
the original source of information,
as it has ceased to exist,
such as a Star that died long ago
what you “see” does not even exist!
In the same way, depending on the
distance
What we “see” is not the current
state
It would be some time back when
the information left it
With the time measurement
being very close to “now” for
close objects
and further and further away for
more distant ones.
The “now” is always in the past.
Furthermore, what we “see.”
is just how our brains interpret
the received information
using our stored knowledge which
spans not just our lives
but countless ones in the history
of our cultural community
which affects Our emotions and
feelings
when dealing with information
To this, add our feelings on our
anticipated future
And “reality” will be more and
more interpretive,
and its true nature will elude us
This does not mean that everything
is hallucinatory
Without “objects,” there won’t be
information
But the interpretation of reality
based on this information
will be variable, individual, and
continuously changing
Man has mastered so many ways of
passing information to brains
He can send information which
could be interpreted as Real
because the final perception
on whether the information
emanated from a real object
or from a source of man-made
energy impulses
which simulate the “real”
information,
is something that we may not be
able to distinguish
purely by our perceptive
conclusions
Hence the belief by some Scientists
that we are just living in a
computer simulation
But I maintain that there is a
Reality
But its true nature will elude us
because of our reliance on our Brains
But there are some sages, mainly
from the East
who posit that there is a separate
Mind (consciousness)
Distinct from the “Embodied Mind”
or “Mind/Brain unity”
Which can perceive the Ultimate
Reality through deep introspection
The illusory curtains can be
parted and True Reality can be seen and experienced
Who knows!
Not really surprised by lack of any comments. Philosophical pondering is alien to our Blog! I learnt my lesson- I can reassure you that there won't be any more of this type!
ReplyDeleteDear Mahen ,
DeleteDo not be downhearted !
I happened to see this post last night as I was falling asleep and thought to myself- “Here ‘s a discussion to last till the end of our days !”
But obviously it was not the time to start !
You stopped at the point where the curtains could open and meditation and psychedelics came to my mind .
We have read of the experiences of those who have seen beyond the “doors of perception”, but these experiences are unique to each individual.
We are all merely organized conglomerates of ‘stardust’ racing around in ‘space’ and ‘time’ . Each particle in our bodies can be expected to behave differently when observed and unobserved as shown in the double slit experiments in Quantum physics.
The term Reality itself is hard to define for its vastness.
As for what we percieve, a red rose would probably be all the spectrum of colours that we can and cant see except the red which reaches our eyes and brain .
Plato, in his Allegory of the Cave knew how our “reality” is so narrow, that anyone who sees beyond can only be considered crazy or be persecuted. We have seen this in history and in religion.
We are like the prisoners in the cave !
Reality is too vast for us to fathom , and with science accepting the possibility of myriad planes of existence of matter, the notion of spirituality seems to be slowly creeping in to science !
A quick entry and exit . Be happy Mahen !
Dear Rohini. You made my day! But I must reassure you that I never get upset or disheratened when the response is poor. What I miss is the views of others and that is important to me. These are deep topics for which there will be many answers,opinions and statements based on the individual's understanding, experience and state of mind at the time they delve into these and dare I say that this can change many times! I shall respond in more detail soon but I am convinced that there is no such thing as the "right" or "correct" answer.
DeleteMahen, you "warned' me about this post, but when I looked for it a couple of days ago, it was not yet posted. I appreciate you taking the time to share your thoughts, but I'm not sure that I can contribute much to this discussion.
ReplyDeleteMy reality is not your reality, because my experiences color my perception as you have pointed out.
And Rohini, I agree with what you wrote:
"Reality is too vast for us to fathom, and with science accepting the possibility of myriad planes of existence of matter, the notion of spirituality seems to be slowly creeping in to science !"
So many people live in a narrow mental reality of their own creation; their minds are closed off, and they cannot accept other peoples's points of view.
We need to be humble and acknowledge the fact that there is is much that we do not know or understand.
Mahen, your question "What is reality?" reminds me of the ancient Indian story of the six blind men and the elephant. The blind men had never "seen" an elephant, but when they got close to one, they each touched a different part of the elephant's body. The one who touched the body of the elephant, thought it must look like a wall. The one who felt the tusk said that the elephant was hard and pointed and must look like a spear. The one who touched the trunk said it must look like a snake, and so on. They could not agree and spent the rest of the day quarreling with each other about what the elephant looked like.
Srianee, the elephant story comes from followers of Jainism in India. The moral of that story has been described as follows:- The moral of the story is that there may be some truth to what someone says. Sometimes we can see that truth and sometimes not because they may have different perspective which we may not agree too. So, rather than arguing like the blind men, we should say, “Maybe you have your reasons.” This way we don’t get in arguments. In Jainism, it is explained that truth can be stated in seven different ways. So, you can see how broad our religion is. It teaches us to be tolerant towards others for their viewpoints. This allows us to live in harmony with the people of different thinking.
ReplyDeleteMy random thoughts on Reality is what you can expect from a retired person with few responsibilities and plenty of time ti indulge in a basic human quality, curiosity! Many of my friends think it is a complete waste of time but I don't agree. Delving into these deep questions can bring humility and a better understanding of people. The fact that I know that I don't know is a humbling thought. What is Reality is a question which interests Scientists as well as Philosophers and Religious leaders. What intrigues me is that our interpretation of Reality is based on our senses and it does not necessarily mean that we therefore understand reality. The deep suggestion from many Eastern philosophers is that there is something deeper than a mind (which depends on the body, in this case the Brain) which we all have access to if we are willing to put the effort. I have no idea whteher this is true but I can accept the view that what you see as the Real World will be different from what I "see" as we can only interpret our sensory information, not necessarilly "see" it as it really is.
The benefit of pondering on these is that it makes one humble, more understanding of other points of view. Just a silly example is the absolute despair and sadness experienced by an English football supporter who watched the last match and the eccestatic delight of the French Fan who watched exactly the same happening!
Just to add to whay I sadi above, I find some concepts in Jainism very attractive although I am not a Jainism followewr! This one in particuoar is morally, intellectually and spiritually very helpful and conducive to Peace in a community with mutiple faiths and beliefs; This is AnekantvÄda which is non-absolutist and stands firmly against all dogmatisms, even including any assertion that only Jainism is the right religious path. What a better place the World would be if we all subscribe to it! Tolerance, understanding, humility will follow.
ReplyDeleteMahen, first and foremost, my heartfelt sympathy to you and other Brits on the World Cup loss to France. (Personally, I would like Lionel Messi and his Argentine team to win, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it.)
ReplyDeleteBack to our discussion on Reality and Truth (Is it the same thing?); Thank you for enlightening me on Jainism and Anekantavada. I agree with that kind of thinking. The World definitely needs more tolerance and acceptance of the others and their point of view.
You wrote something interesting just now: "The deep suggestion from many Eastern philosophers is that there is something deeper than a mind (which depends on the body, in this case the Brain) which we all have access to if we are willing to put the effort."
They may be speaking of the "Soul" that intangible quality that we all possess. I believe that it defines a person.
Keep on pondering, Mahen, and do not hesitate to share your thoughts. I bet there are many who are reading them even though they may not add any comments.
When I was very young, I would sometimes close my eyes and try to imagine what Infinity was like and drive myself crazy. I think it is good to "stretch" our brains that way.
Thanks Srianee. Realiry is related to Truth but it is not the same thing. "Reality" questions the image and perception of the world we gather as what we "see" and " her" etc through our senses depends on how our brains/minds decipher that data. For example. I can send a host of artifical stimuli to you which will make you experience a world which I have constructed and is not "real". You experience the sinulation but you are not aware of the fact that it is a simulation. "Truth" can be a "theory of everythung" as proposed by Hawkins or a reality which is beyond our senses but is "there" if only we can get over the barriers which we meet as we focus our mind intensely. If you reach it, it won't be anything that you can imagine. It can only be experienced. A bit like when people say they are going to meet their departed loved one in Heaven, they probably imagine some sort of nice physical place with perhaps nice and comfrtable scenery where the departed one greets you - whther the departed one looks the same as when he/she died 6 years ago or has "aged" is left to your imagination. Some eve say that they meet the "spirit" but cannot really describe what they imagine. Advocates of Nirvana and Heaven say that we can only pusue these beliefs and try to realise them with a faith that it is going to be "pleasurable" although it is too deep to really fathom- a blind mand can be spoken to about seeing but he can never experince what a sighted man can "see" (although the "seeing" might be a simulation! Very complex and mind blowing! Not spell checked by the way
ReplyDelete"Truth" is about "waht this is all about really"! If for example, there is a soul as decribed in Christianity, there is no place for the material belief that evetythng ceases at death. Same applies to rebirth or reincarnation. If there is a way of testing these hypotheses, they have not been verty good as if there was good, reproducible, tested data, these would have been solved. Either all Religions are worng or one is right!
ReplyDeleteHi Bunter , Thought it might have been a little nudge from you yesterday! and so Iam back looking in the blog in spite of the crazy, busy time right now !
ReplyDeleteYour story of the blind man and the elephant demonstrates exactly how each one’s reality is different and how each one’s ‘truth’ is different.
I have spent countless hours of my life searching- reading , watching, listening, in the hope of figuring out what’s real and unreal, and what life is all about, but the minefield of information I have encountered over the years has left me none the wiser ! There is much more to think about - on birth, death , ? life after death, reincarnation - all of which baffle me.
From science to mysticism to religion - the theories are endless.
Science makes ‘progress’ at a miniscule rate in comparison to eternity that you were hoping to envision by closing your eyes.
The Large Hadron Collider has kept colliding particles for many years but the nature of the ‘dark matter’ that surrounds us, which is said to be as much as 70% of all matter around us still eludes scientists. Is this ‘Real’ ?
We are unlikely to know much about anything in our lifetimes !
The so called ‘reality’ that we perceive as existing around us obviously doesn’t exist in any shape or form or colour that our minds construct.
All this is quite apart from our thoughts , emotions and feelings ,even dreams - all intangible even to science any time soon .
As I said in our conversation yesterday, this is a huge topic, with endless viewpoints - too complex to deal with specially at this busy time!
Mahen, Iam sorry your enthusiasm and hard work are not rewarded the way it deserves to be. The timing has not helped either .
For now, everyone’s ‘reality’ seems to be Santa Clause and his Reindeer-driven sleigh full of gifts !!
Enjoy your Xmas
I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year đđđ
Rohini and Srianee. I am truly grateful for your comments, especially as Rohini pointed out, at a very busy time when there are so many other priorities to occupy our minds.
ReplyDeleteI was keen to know whether many of our batch thought about these issues and if they did, what conclusions they arrived at. I was also keen to see whether any sources of accessible information would be suggested.
This is not a problem that can be solved, certainly not in the foreseeable future. As I pointed out in one of my comments, I feel that pondering on these issues could promote better understanding among humans and lead to more tolerance and peace.
I like to point out one aspect of the elephant metaphor/simile. Each person found his own reality but the fact that there WAS an elephant is the reality, a reality they could not perceive.The story does not contest the existence of a reality but shows how people interpret,
I shall end up with something to think about. Aristotole is I think the first person to think of atoms, which he thought (incorrectly now that we know more) was the final indivisible particle which constitutes every thing. He may have been wrong about how far “the curtains were parted” as he thought he unfolded the last one to reveal the atom. But his basic idea that all mattet is constituted of smaller elements still holds true, although we have gone far beyond atoms to fundamental particles and waves. I always thought that this was a viable concept. I could not envisage the existence of trillions of “things” which were each “individual”. I like the Lego concept that we make “things” that make sense to us and so does Nature (whatever that is!). That is why I find it infathomable how in the final analysis, we and all of the Universe is ultimately made of fundamental particles and waves. But surely, that is the only way. If we want to have a table, we cannot conjure it- we need to get the wood and other materials needed and construct it. The next question is more difficult. What I gave is a “phsyicallist” view. Some physicallists believe that more tenous things like emotions, pleasure, sadness etc also have a physical explanation. I am torn on this, I think we need a physical basis to experience this , i.e. the Brain but to me it is mind/body interaction or “Emdodied Mind” and the true nature of the “mind” eludes me. I can well undertand why some settle on spiritual explanations.
I am sure more people read this post although most chose not to comment. That is OK. I only hope that I promoted people to give more thought to these issues.
Mahen and Rohini, I confess I don't spend a lot of time pondering these deep questions on my own, but I appreciate the opportunity to discuss such ideas with you two. It is too bad that we cannot do it face to face over a cup of coffee or tea in a nice cafe, in Auckland, Manchester or West Hartford. I truly believe that there is more to us humans and the Universe than particles and waves, but I don't really know, do I? There is that intangible spiritual aspect of humankind that is difficult to define. I know that I don't know, and I am perfectly willing to accept that.
DeleteIn the famous words of Donald Rumsfeld, George W. Bush's Secretary of Defense, "...there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know."
He was trying to wiggle out of question about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, but there is wisdom in what he said!
Dear Friends,
ReplyDeleteI am planning a Xmas and New Year greetings post in the next few days.
Could you please send me short messages or even long ones if you have any, including any suitable quotes?
I plan to post it on Thursday, the 22nd of December and all contributions, please by the 21st of December latest.
Speedy