Why is nature (uninterpreted reality) beyond our grasp?

Question

Given that all perspectives (science, religion, etc.) represent cultural points of view rather than natural realities, why is nature (or uninterpreted reality) beyond our grasp?

That is, why can't we understand nature without using some kind of "lens?"

Answer 1

We don't see, feel, taste or hear the 'real world'. We sense an interpretation of what reality is, a 'guestimate' provided by the synergy of our sensory organs and our brains. We don't have access to the real world directly....only our 'version' if it.

Our interpretation is based on our experiences, which vary wildly from person to person. Thus, we genuinely don't perceive reality the same way. The same event observed by two different people can create starkly different memories when passed through the lens of our own intepretation. As human beings, we can't bypass 'interpretation' because we're not actually seeing the world, we're perceiving images our mind creates for us based on both signals it receives, and the way its been trained by experience to perceive those signals.

Ergo.....there is no concensus what 'uninterpreted reality' is...as no human has ever experienced it.

Answer 2

We only have five senses with which "grasp" nature. Unfortunately, all feedback from these senses is "interpreted" automatically by the brain.

We are tied to nature, inundated by it for the time being. To "grasp" a thing, one must necessarily be outside of it and able to exert a certain amount of control over it. We are suited to interpret, not (on a large scale) to control. We explore continually but do not (on a large scale) understand.

Although we like to flatter ourselves (through our interpretations), our comprehension of, and influence upon, this universe is virtually nil. Some things are so small, so far away, moving so fast, or so far outside of our awareness or imagination that, in our current natural form, we will never be able to truly "grasp" them. The truth is, we're just not that well equipped.

In order to grasp the whole truth of reality we would need to become something infinitely more than human.

Answer 3

What Travelin_25 said...he saved me a lot of typing...Our observational instrument (eyes, ears, etc.) and our observational processor (brain) gives each of us a slightly different view of the universe.

All things about the universe will probably never be known, but we interpret things like earthquakes and lightning far differently than they did a couple of centuries ago. These things were thought to be acts of god, and now we know their mechanisms. Perhaps we will be able to accurately predict them some day, but this is beyond our grasp right now. Science has only been marching forward for a couple of centuries, but its progress increases exponentially every year as more and more scientists learn more and more. The nature of reality is very complex and holds many surprises I am sure. In the mean time try to learn as much about it as you can, so you aren't starting from zero when the next break-through happens in any field.

Answer 4

Why can't we?

Let's start by considering this question as it might relate to the existance of a rock.

Now, we would assume that the human being has a more accurate interpretation of reality than a rock because we have eyes and ears - in short we have sense perception and the rock doesn't.

Now, our sense perception is incomplete, however. We can not perceive the totality of the universe. Even if we could pick up the universe and hold it, flip it around in our hands and look at it on all sides, use all our sense perception to perceive we would still not be able to perceive it in totality. In fact, we would have to dismantle the universe and perceive every atom and every neutron within each atom, and each electorn orbiting each atom, and each sub-atomic particle within each electron all in order to try and perceive the totality of the universe.

But by then, it would be so disfigured from its original form - dusty strewn about infinity - that it would cease to be perceiveable. In fact, it is in the very act of even attempting to perceive the universe that we alter it from its original form and, therefore, become unable to perceive its reality.

So to answer your question, we can not perceive reality because we perceive, and, therefore, it would logically follow that in order to perceive reality we would have to stop perceiving altogether.

This brings me back to the rock. Perhaps, just perhaps, it is the rock that perceives reality better than us because it doesn't perceive at all.

Answer 5

You want to grasp nature? That is become a part of it? Stop thinking and just react, thats nature.

Answer 6

Because it would be so damn boring if we totally grasped reality. We would find no reason to live if everything were so simple.

Answer 7

We cannot interpret nature because we bring to many things to the table.

Answer 8

Science is reality not a cultural viewpoint.

Answer 9

because our grasp is limited by too many things :

fear
ignorance
seeing is believing concept
stupidity
stubbornness

Answer 10

BECAUSE WE ARE DESIGN TO UNDER STAND ONLY TO CERTAIN POINT AFTER THAT WE DIE!!>>JUST LIKE AN ANT AN ANT CAN ONLY DO THINGS THAT THEIR BRAINS ARE PROGRAMMED TO DO !!!