I've based my entire life around the notion that reality is only what I can observe through my five senses. Now that I'm reading about the nature of the senses and how hearing and seeing are basically the same in that they are simply the inputting of patterns into the brain (and therefore aren't really "sounds" or "sights"), I'm at a loss when contemplating reality. This doesn't prove or disprove anything, but on that note.. can anything really be proved or disproved?
2006-12-01 05:47:29 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
“Happiness is just an illusion caused by the temporary absence of reality.”
2006-12-01 06:02:10 · answer #1 · answered by ••Mott•• 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It's an interesting question, which has entertained man's creative brain for centuries (e.g. Plato's cave).
Here's a long answer, with a short answer to follow:
I think the answer is yes, but it requires an acknowledgement that reality is defined as being relative to the perceiver. An independent kind of reality, seperate from or beyond the perception of any perciever, is essentially meaningless. Even if you are told that it exists... so what?
For all practical purposes, you may as well behave and think as if the world that you sense, is indeed a reality. To behave differently would make you psychotic.
Nevertheless, the question is interesting for philosophical reasons. I believe that it is ultimately unsolvable/unknowable, because we can always create a more elaborate scenario to account for the "apparent reality" (e.g. Star Trek's "The Cage" episode, and the films The Matrix and Truman come to mind). Like me, over time you will probably become more and more comfortable with this kind of existential and Buddhist fact (that a true or ultimate reality is an unknowable possibility).
The more practical question is: How to think and behave in a world such as ours? I think you know the answer to that -- just like all the other "dumb" animals (who don't think about these things), we should try to survive if our lives are enjoyable, and that means reacting to the world as we sense it. We have no other choice except madness. In the film "A Beautiful Mind" they try to suggest that a brilliant person can detect and control his own illusions. I suppose that might be possible, but only to an extent. If you can tell it's an illusion, then it's obviously not reality.
With this understanding that reality is relative to the perceivers, it follows that things can be proved, because (in this world) 2 + 2 really does = 4; humans really did/do evolve from simpler life forms; the world is not flat, etc. If we some day discover that our world is really a fish tank for some kind of gods, then maybe we will learn that 2 + 2 is not = 4, and thus our "facts" will need revision because we are now in a new kind of world/reality; but this possibility does not change the present "fact" that 2 + 2 does equal 4 for this world.
Short answer: anything really is possible... but don't bet on it.
Woody Allen has some great quotes on this subject. Here's my favorite:
"What if everything is an illusion and nothing exists? In that case, I definitely overpaid for my carpet."
In The Cage, a physically mangled person eventually decides that a life of beautiful illusion is better than his real life. I whole-heartedly agree with that message; it's why we enjoy dreaming, reading, TV, movies, drugs. And in the Matrix, one of the characters makes this choice too... he says that a piece of juicy steak, though he knows it's an illusion, is truly delicious and enjoyable. He wants just such an enjoyable life. Unfortunately, the Matrix and Truman films seem to presume that true reality is always superior to an illusion. But maybe that's just because the Controllers/Directors are evil in those stories. The Cage addresses a more interesting question; i.e. what if the illusion is known, and does no harm to anyone?
2006-12-01 16:01:46 · answer #2 · answered by HarryTikos 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Reality is what you make from life. The brain functions on so many levels that comprehension varies from individual to individual. Hearing and seeing are not the same; One can hear with their heart and not the ears, if they chose to block it out; seeing is a matter of believing for some. Don't assume everything you see or hear to be true... reality means being in the 'know' and how one interprets knowledge. Hope this gives you some clarity in your question. Thanks for reading.
2006-12-01 16:05:07 · answer #3 · answered by ? 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Reality is a state of mind not the state of your senses. It has nothing to do with your sense of taste and smell. The only thing about reality that can be proven is that it is your own. It is only true for you and you alone. No two realities are exactly the same. How do you prove the sky is blue to someone who is blind? Think about it...
2006-12-01 14:14:44 · answer #4 · answered by old&wiser 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Philisophically, nothing can be proved or disproved..or...everything can be proved or disproved...!?
its a complex kind of thing, for all we know, we could just be floating brains in a jar, and not know it. If you were a brain in a jar, you'd just be programmed to believe this is your actual life, and it may not be so.
chew on that! if life wasn't complex enough before.
2006-12-01 13:55:55 · answer #5 · answered by stu b 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What do you mean by "reality"? I am at a loss to see how an explanation of the method by which we hear stops them being "sounds".
Centuries ago people believed that everything, including tables and chairs, was made of earth, air, fire and water. Now we believe they're made of atoms. Does a chair made of earth, air, fire and water stop your bum hitting the floor any better than a chair made of atoms?
2006-12-01 16:00:14 · answer #6 · answered by anthonypaullloyd 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
That's pretty deep. So what you're saying is, that because we believe that our sense interpret reality, it may not be reality at all? That does seem to explain stuff like ghosts...
2006-12-01 14:11:12 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
no reality as we "see" it doesnt exist.
people see what they want to see, our world is crossed with other worlds at this very moment...sometimes there is a moment when a person can see or even communicate with another reality and so they call them ghosts!
2006-12-01 14:22:24 · answer #8 · answered by Kristin H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ahum. I believe you think way to much. Life is what it is make the best of it and help someone you don't know everyday :-)
2006-12-01 14:01:36 · answer #9 · answered by know it all 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
yes, for example if you step out in front of a bus you can pretty convincingly prove the bus exists.
2006-12-01 17:47:17 · answer #10 · answered by supremecritic 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋