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OK......So I am on a very abstract frame of mind right now. How many of you think that reality defines our perceptions? How many think that perception defines or reality? How many coudn't give a **** and wander around the world without ever thinking about this? This is an argument that I get in with my friends all the time.
-NeuTron
the act of perciveing reality by definition modifies reality. Look with out getting philosphical its plain to see, first our eyes work in binary and our brain construts the image form the incompleate data that it gets (why optical illusions work so well). Second there is that whole quantom mechanics issue, by observing something we are changeing its energy state thus by preciveing we change what we preive in at least a small way.
Let us look at a spider's multiple eyes, or a bee's ability to see ultraviolet, and even a snake's ability to feel heat. These things offer totally diferent realities. All from the same universe we see (percieve) in technicolor through binocular vision that takes two diferent perspective viewes integrates them into a single distorted picture. Based on that it seems our perception makes reality. Of course I am not even touching on things like quantum mechanics that bbalad mentioned.
The concept and argument go both ways, it seems to be a cycle.
<knocks wooden desktop> this is reality. :)
Anyone else see 'In the Mouth of Madness'... might give you some ideas.
Reality is a fluid concept, and perceptions are just as fluid... the only way I can describe this at the moment is.... take a brightly coloured dye and a beaker of water - one represents perception the other reality. Pour the dye into the water... both liquids interface with each other and influence the other -eventually both mix completely and you get what we experience. As an analogy it can explain a lot if you think about it enough.
I sound like I'm on drugs don't I?
Z
PS one other thing the perceiver changes just as much as that which is perceived... but you can infer that from the fluid analogy above
So according to your thinking (which happens to be mine as well) Reality is made up of our perceptions and not the other way around.Quote:
Originally posted here by RoadClosed
Let us look at a spider's multiple eyes, or a bee's ability to see ultraviolet, and even a snake's ability to feel heat. These things offer totally diferent realities. All from the same universe we see (percieve) in technicolor through binocular vision that takes two diferent perspective viewes integrates them into a single distorted picture. Based on that it seems our perception makes reality. Of course I am not even touching on things like quantum mechanics that bbalad mentioned.
The concept and argument go both ways, it seems to be a cycle.
Yes, our ability to percieve the physical makeup of the universe is reality. For instance, If you are a creature that could only see or detect (percieve) 2 dimensions, your idea of reality would be a flat surface with no height or depth. If you were looking at an object that moved just a single milimeter up or down, you (as a 2 dimensional creature) would fail to percieve it's existance. To you it would not exist, averting your percieved reality.
Sometimes I look at bees buzzing around my office window. They see in ultraviolet, many objects that reflect colors in the lower visible light spectrum are completely invisible. They have no reality substance to this bee. In fact he can't seem to detect the fact that this window exists. To this insect, a window is an object that CANNOT exist based on the understanding this creature has for our shared universe. I think he can see an object on the other side that shines through but he cannot percieve what is blocking him from the flower's nectar. Some great force field? Nope a window made of glass.
That was a cool analogy. You must be a very visual person. But because we know that the actual window exists, does that mean that the bee's perceptions are limiting it's capabilities to perceive reality? I guess it all depends on your definition of reality.Quote:
Originally posted here by RoadClosed
Sometimes I look at bees buzzing around my office window. They see in ultraviolet, many objects that reflect colors in the lower visible light spectrum are completely invisible. They have no reality substance to this bee. In fact he can't seem to detect the fact that this window exists. To this insect, a window is an object that CANNOT exist based on the understanding this creature has for our shared universe. I think he can see an object on the other side that shines through but he cannot percieve what is blocking him from the flower's nectar. Some great force field? Nope a window made of glass.
-NeuTron
The theme here seems to be acknowledging preception based reality as a primary answer.
However......
Does that mean that any individual or species, as a whole, is actually attempting to avoid the reality of the singular by engrossing oneself/itself in the illusion of the multiple? As a matter of questioning ones own reason is this even possible?
Reality comes first, perception is imperfect. Any other view will lead you to
leap off bridges trying to fly. I have used enough LSD to know that the
mind is capable of misleading you profoundly.
Maybe we never fully or perfectly experience the big picture of reality,
but I am convinced that it exists externally, and independent of my
perception.
If I were to die tonight, chances are that your universe would
still exist, because reality doesn't depend on me.
The fact that there are shared perceptions is another strong argument
for the idea that there is such a thing as objective reality.
Even in the story of the blind men and the elephant, they had to agree
that there was some phenomenon that they were all
observing, even if they disagreed on the details.
:cool:
Quote:
reality
n 1: all of your experiences that determine how things appear to you; "his world was shattered"; "we live in different worlds"; "for them demons were as much a part of reality as trees were" [syn: world] 2: the state of being actual or real: "the reality of his situation slowly dawned on him" [syn: realness, realism] [ant: unreality] 3: the state of the world as it really is rather than as you might want it to be; "businessmen have to face harsh realities" 4: the quality possessed by something that is real [ant: unreality]
Source: WordNet ® 1.6, © 1997 Princeton University
Boy is that a contradiction.............Quote:
re·al·i·ty ( P ) Pronunciation Key (r-l-t)
n. pl. re·al·i·ties
1. The quality or state of being actual or true.
2. One, such as a person, an entity, or an event, that is actual: “the weight of history and political realities” (Benno C. Schmidt, Jr.).
3. The totality of all things possessing actuality, existence, or essence.
4. That which exists objectively and in fact: Your observations do not seem to be about reality.
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.