a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment by randomuser
randomuser  ·  3451 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Do we see reality as it is?

I didn't say prove either way, only argue lol. You can't prove that our perception of reality is the same. Every brain constantly makes assumptions about what it sees, how do you know which brain is right. Also, aren't w technically like 99% empty space when we get down to our atomic structure? I don't perceive myself as that much empty space. Also aren't sound and light the same thing just much different frequencies? So what is reality and why do we perceive it so differently than it is in actuality. Part of reality is perception of the world, an everyone has a different perception of the world and people, partially based on experience, and partially based on genetic makeup. I can't prove that we see different realities but I'm fairly certain we do just based on this interaction, and I know that I see reality differently than people who are color blind. You should look up the Ted talk on Neil harbisson and how he listens to color and paints music, really interesting way to perceive color.





aeromill  ·  3451 days ago  ·  link  ·  

We know what is the true reality because of what you just said your self: The brain makes assumptions. We are aware of this shortcut and the ignorance that arises out of it. Due to this, we can eliminate these shortcuts and see reality objectively. To use the example you brought up: we are mostly empty space, correct. When I look at someone I don't see that. But that's due to our shortcomings in our sense organs like eyes. That being said, the fact that you know that we're mostly empty space hurts your arguments for two reasons: first. you're acknowledging this as objective fact, thus proving objective reality; second, we have a means of finding out what this objective reality entails through instruments that extend and perfect our faulty sensing organs.

Sound and light are different btw. Light is made of photons, sound is made from fluids compressing at a certain frequency.

Additionally, the fact that many people perceive reality differently doesn't mean reality is actually what we perceive through our sense. Our brain takes shortcuts all the time which is why we see faces in trees and animals in clouds. But we know objectively that not only our brain is taking shortcuts, but that reality is different than that misinterpretation. We can do this by, as stated above, instruments that extend and perfect our senses.

To emphasize further, reality is not shaped by perception. Sure quantum physics acts a little weird, but we still have more research to do there. That being said, if a tree falls and no one is around, it still makes a sound. It's quite a hubris statement to say that reality is defined by our perception. With that cleared up, multiple perspectives doesn't mean that there are more than one realities.

Finally, we know that color blind people or others who see music and feel light are experiencing reality differently, but again, we know what is objectively happening: Their brains are taking in objective physical phenomena like light and sound waves in different means than normal. But the physical reality of the objects remains objective and thus, reality as well.

randomuser  ·  3451 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Light and sound are both vibration.

Also, the question was whether we see reality as it really is...

aeromill  ·  3450 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Light is electro magnetic radiation that has wavelengths. Sound is a vibration that propagates as a mechanical wave. Very different in nature.

And earlier you were talking about how we perceive different realities implying there are more than one. That's confusing a misinterpretation of reality with there being more than one. Due to our limitations from our sensing organs, the truth is the earlier rather than the latter.