2007-02-26 05:56:40 · 10 answers · asked by Padmini Gopalan 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Perhaps somebody ,some thing is right there in front of me and I am not aware of it.Is it possible?
2007-02-26 06:07:32 · update #1
Yes you are, but the ant is aware of your existence, he simply does not comprehend you as other beings would, because he is an ant and comprehends things with internal models that reflect the tiny world he is in. So if an ant were walking on your arm, he would not think he was walking on your arm, but maybe a tree with a funny scent (at least an ant's very limited 'idea' of a tree, it's all instinct at this level).
And yes, you are in the same situation. You comprehend a tin can, for example, as what you know a tin can to be. However you cannot see the infrared or ultraviolet spectrum (let alone xray, gamma, etc.) so you do not see that tin can as it actually exists, only as how you can understand it with your senses as they are now.
2007-02-26 06:07:53 · answer #1 · answered by neuralzen 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
For starters, I seriously doubt an ant can even be aware of its own existence. They simply don't have the neurological equipment required to be consciously aware. Just because they appear to work together cooperatively doesn't mean they are "thinking." Just because an ant might bite you, or scurry about when you try to touch it, does not mean it understands everything in its environment. The best analogy I can think of is to imagine an ant as an organic machine which unconsciously follows its instinctive programming. Individual ants can't learn anything or benefit from experience. They go through life mindlessly obeying their standard set of instinctive behaviors. When they work cooperatively they communicate chemically and this creates the illusion (in the human mind) that ants apparently know what they are doing.
You, on the other hand, are far more evolved than an ant. Your senses are far more developed and your brain creates an imaginary mental model based on what your senses are telling your brain. (What you think you see is actually an imaginary picture in your brain.) You can conceptualize. You have a complex language. You can consider options and imagine consequences. You can think and you can know that you are thinking. You may be a million times larger than an ant, but you are infinitely more complex.
Consider this: Could an ant ask your question? Answer this question and you've answered your's.
2007-02-26 14:47:27 · answer #2 · answered by Diogenes 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Try to catch an ant sometime and then tell me that it is not aware that you are there.
I do understand what you are asking though.
I had this experience with the concept of love a few years back. A long time ago I thought that love was something that you reserved for some special set of people that you had judged worthy of it.
After a while I got to thinking about what Jesus had said about turning the other cheek and loving our neighbor I put the two together and realized that he had made no exceptions in these statements. It became obvious to me that he intended that we exclude no one from the love that we are supposed to be giving. I started thinking about my idea of love and suddenly realized that I had not been loving anyone at all. I had simply been judging everyone and every thing.
Judging someone worthy of love is not love, it is only judgment. I actually started to cry when I realized this. I saw just how much of my life I had wasted being judgmental, thinking of myself as a Christian, when I was actually doing just the opposite of what Jesus had asked us to do.
I thought about the verse judge not lest ye be judged, and I understood it for the first time.
I realized that I have a lot of catching up to do. So many opportunities were wasted. I now try to apply the love that I have for the world in a universal way like Jesus asks us to do.
If I start to feel afraid and think that I see someone that I should not love because of something I have thought or heard I try to catch my mistake as soon as possible. I tell myself that I have forgot the truth and have fallen for the same old trick that had cost me so many opportunities to be loving in the past. The horror of this realization is often all that is necessary to bring me back to my senses and make me drop the judgmental nonsense I was thinking.
I still have a lot to learn about love, but at least I’m making progress.
Love and blessings
Your brother
Don
2007-02-26 14:28:40 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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Oh, you underestimate the ant. They are VERY aware of us. I have a garden full of ants. When I first started the garden, I was afraid of the red ants, so I did everything I could to get rid of them, other than killing them...red pepper powder, etc. (That made them scurry around faster, but they still went where they wanted to go.)
When I had that attitude with the ants, I was stung. Then a friend told me not to get rid of the ants. I learned that they herd aphids off my plants, and into their underground chambers where they feed them, keep them alive, and drink the sugary substance that they excrete. Also, ants create really good soil...much like earthworms...etc. So I planted them their favorite plants...the ones that aphids love the most: sunflowers.
Anyway, when my attitude changed, I was never stung again. But when they don't know who you are, as you approach, they get very still...nothing is moving...you don't know anything is there. As you stand there still for a minute, you start to see them move...hundreds in every direction.
With my attitude change, their attitude changed toward me...they do understand how you're feeling. Red ants get on me now, and I feel something totally different than I used to...and they don't sting.
Become one with the ant! \0/
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2007-02-26 14:54:41 · answer #4 · answered by M J 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you tap your toe or otherwise touch the ant, it is very aware of your existence.
Haven't you ever been bitten by a red ant? It wasn't an accident!
2007-02-26 14:07:38 · answer #5 · answered by pat z 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Who said ants are not aware of your existence? Didn't you ever got stung by one?
2007-02-26 14:11:14 · answer #6 · answered by robertonereo 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ok, you're like 10000000 times the size of the ant, OF COURSE its aware you exist!!
2007-02-26 14:04:35 · answer #7 · answered by thechosenone_2003 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is possible, but the probability is near zero.
The ant is only aware of an obstruction.
2007-02-26 14:21:24 · answer #8 · answered by hunterentertainment 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Yes; unless you got ants in your pants, then you would both be aware of it.
2007-02-26 14:06:54 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes.
2007-02-26 14:20:11 · answer #10 · answered by Jerry P 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋