The Problem of Selective Reality
Life is complex—who would of thought? The more we come to know, the less we seem to know, but few care to admit it. Selecting a preferred reality maybe a human trait, although, I'm inclined to believe that all species do exactly the same thing. This tendency isn't unique to any particular profession, even if we tend to equate faith with religion. In fact, it may be unfair to call it faith. Maybe it's identity; the way in which we identify with one idea or another, one group or another. Whatever it is really is, we all actively engage in this process. If people invest deeply enough in a particular vision of the world, they'll defend it to the death. To do other wise might be a form of mental and emotional suicide.
Perhaps selecting ones reality isn't so far fetched as it might appear at first glance. As far back as Plato it was understood that reality wasn't necessarily real. We perceive the world around us through our senses; we touch, smell, taste, see and hear it. We take those disparate elements of censorial experience and recombine them in our minds to form thought, and that, becomes our reality.
For instance, we experience the painting on the wall only as a sensory reality. We see its shape, texture and colors and determine, based on familiarity, where it fits in our world-view. If it's unfamiliar we tend to see it as foreign, strange, even unsettling. That may be why new art forms need to explained, to give them context. The explanation allows us to categorize it in our minds, enabling us to understand what it's "Like" what it correspond to in our personal experience.
Dogs, for instance, have a much more acute sense of smell and hearing than we do. In some instances as much as a hundred times that of humans. Who should be surprised that they sniff and hear their way through the world in a way that we don't. From a dogs point of view we could be a bunch of dumb bastards, at least as far as hearing and smell goes. No doubt, in that way, dogs are far superior to humans.
If I give my beloved little female Pug/Chihuahua dog a bath, the first thing she does afterword is stick her head in my shoe or grab an old sock and roll around with it. She's clearly after some familiar sent "She stinks, therefore she is!" might be her philosophy. Perhaps, in the absence of a strong sent, she ceases to exist, at least in dog reality. Clearly, her reality isn't exactly like my reality, although we find common ground by emotional communication, expressed through my voice and her bark, my petting her, her licking me. Who's to say whose reality is more real.
There is a saying "Metaphor makes reality". In other words, the world is, for humans at least, a series of symbols connected in the mind through sense and language, language being just another form of symbolism. All reality, as it's experienced, is metaphorical. The complexity of human languages, words and their definitions, allow us to agree on meaning, giving us a common language.
We say the sun rises, when in fact, it doesn't rise or set. The earth revolves around the sun, creating the illusion of rising and setting. And, yet, we know what we mean when we say the sun is rising, which is metaphorically true, even if it's not scientifically true.
The story of the Tower of Babble from the bible tells how early humans built what may have been the first nation-state with a common language. A common language, created unity and enabled them to achieve great wealth and power, ultimately leading to even greater hubris, and ulitimately, destruction. The way in which the story is told, I believe, is primarily symbolic, offering a powerful truth about human arrogance and its cost. One that is probably rooted in actual history, even if the way in which it's told is heavily symbolic, and therefore, metaphorical.
Humans, when broken down into groups, see the world through their peculiar gifts; music, art, science, philosophy, athletics etc... Each gift becomes a language that utilizes its strengths as a conduit for experience. That experience compels people to find commonality with people of a like-mind, meaning; people who are experiencing the world in a similar way. External reality, such as the natural world (our environment) shapes our perception, as well, leading to a shared world-view.
It's in the competition to establish a dominate world-view that problems arise. Science and religion aren't necessarily at odds with one another, unless they articulate completely different visions of our everyday reality. If I say that the reason that Bob is sick is because of demons, a doctor may take issue with my diagnoses. If, on the other hand, the scientists says that evil doesn't exist as an external reality, I need only point to the evil being carried out daily, to say nothing of history, to show that he's wrong. It is the cause that is at issue. And, in the absence of all of the facts, metaphor, once again, raises its obtuse little head to muddy the water ever further.
Just a few years ago “Junk DNA” was considered to be the leftover debris of life’s long march towards its present state. Scientists used it as the perfect example of evolution's disjointed creative process—of trial and error—lots of error. They turned out to be wrong. Not only is “Junk DNA” not junk, it's one more nail in the coffin of such convenient explanations. From God just did it! To “Over a very long time "Stuff" happened.” What kinds of stuff? Stuff! Which tends to be the answer in lieu of an actual answer. God and stuff, it would seem, covers a lot of territory.
Sometimes I watch science shows on the Discovery Channel and I'm always in awe of how much “Science” claims to have figured out. Occasionally, they'll insert the word theory, but rush past it like a card-sharp using sleight of hand to deflect your attention. They allegedly can pin point, with tremendous accuracy, the daily practices of animals dead for fifty million years with no more than a tooth or a toenail. When, in fact, they they frequently can't determine whether a skull and partial skeleton is ape or human, maybe a distant human ancestor, maybe not. Were dinosaurs reptilian? Or, were they descended from birds, possibly some combination. Were they fantastically stupid? Or, were their brains small, but efficient for the demands of some T Rex-chicken hybrid? No one really knows. But there is certainly no shortage of answers being offered.
Switch the channels to religious programming and you find pretty much the same thing. Occasionally humility wins out, but not often. It doesn't pay for some television preacher to say “The bible is God's word, but I'm not really sure what that means.” People searching for the truth don't need someone to state the obvious. They need assurances, security, conviction.
This is simply human nature. Do you want some stock analyst telling you “This stock is real winner! On the other hand, I’ve been wrong before, so who knows!” If you don't invest in them, their TV show, buy their book or go to their church, they'll have to get a different job. And who wants to do that.
Politicians will, likewise, tell you they have a program that will solve all of Americas problems. If you vote for them everyone will have a good paying job and our enemies will cower in fear—or except our humble apologies, depending on the particulars. No politician will say “How should I know! This is complex stuff, after all!” Thereby invoking “The Stuff” once again as the all-encompassing answer, which also doubles as the all-encompassing excuse.
The one constant in all such equations is the need for assurances spoken with conviction. It's what people demand. Anything less than that will not be tolerated.
So, we learn very quickly to assure our loved ones, our bosses, our parents and even our children that we are not only sure, but deeply convicted about our assurances.
In our private moments, however, we shake with fear about life's uncertainties, admitting that we're are deeply unsure of just about everything. If we're fortunate, those who claim to love us, will continue doing so, in spite of our fears and insecurities.
If we happen to be very unlucky, they won't care that we are unsure, they'll simply want us to take care of it. Whatever “It” is! Which only compels the cycle to start all all over again. Meaning; that if we wish to be accepted for our weakness and loved by those who claim to love us, it becomes necessary to admit our lack of surety and move forward—together.
Maybe that's what Jesus intended when he said “Love one another as I have loved you. Love your enemies, as well. And, remember, treat others they way you wish to treated. If you do those things you will have eternal life!” Suggesting, of course, that nothing less will do! What does that mean? I'm not sure. Is it metaphor or reality? But it seems a pretty good place to start.
Mark Magula
Perhaps selecting ones reality isn't so far fetched as it might appear at first glance. As far back as Plato it was understood that reality wasn't necessarily real. We perceive the world around us through our senses; we touch, smell, taste, see and hear it. We take those disparate elements of censorial experience and recombine them in our minds to form thought, and that, becomes our reality.
For instance, we experience the painting on the wall only as a sensory reality. We see its shape, texture and colors and determine, based on familiarity, where it fits in our world-view. If it's unfamiliar we tend to see it as foreign, strange, even unsettling. That may be why new art forms need to explained, to give them context. The explanation allows us to categorize it in our minds, enabling us to understand what it's "Like" what it correspond to in our personal experience.
Dogs, for instance, have a much more acute sense of smell and hearing than we do. In some instances as much as a hundred times that of humans. Who should be surprised that they sniff and hear their way through the world in a way that we don't. From a dogs point of view we could be a bunch of dumb bastards, at least as far as hearing and smell goes. No doubt, in that way, dogs are far superior to humans.
If I give my beloved little female Pug/Chihuahua dog a bath, the first thing she does afterword is stick her head in my shoe or grab an old sock and roll around with it. She's clearly after some familiar sent "She stinks, therefore she is!" might be her philosophy. Perhaps, in the absence of a strong sent, she ceases to exist, at least in dog reality. Clearly, her reality isn't exactly like my reality, although we find common ground by emotional communication, expressed through my voice and her bark, my petting her, her licking me. Who's to say whose reality is more real.
There is a saying "Metaphor makes reality". In other words, the world is, for humans at least, a series of symbols connected in the mind through sense and language, language being just another form of symbolism. All reality, as it's experienced, is metaphorical. The complexity of human languages, words and their definitions, allow us to agree on meaning, giving us a common language.
We say the sun rises, when in fact, it doesn't rise or set. The earth revolves around the sun, creating the illusion of rising and setting. And, yet, we know what we mean when we say the sun is rising, which is metaphorically true, even if it's not scientifically true.
The story of the Tower of Babble from the bible tells how early humans built what may have been the first nation-state with a common language. A common language, created unity and enabled them to achieve great wealth and power, ultimately leading to even greater hubris, and ulitimately, destruction. The way in which the story is told, I believe, is primarily symbolic, offering a powerful truth about human arrogance and its cost. One that is probably rooted in actual history, even if the way in which it's told is heavily symbolic, and therefore, metaphorical.
Humans, when broken down into groups, see the world through their peculiar gifts; music, art, science, philosophy, athletics etc... Each gift becomes a language that utilizes its strengths as a conduit for experience. That experience compels people to find commonality with people of a like-mind, meaning; people who are experiencing the world in a similar way. External reality, such as the natural world (our environment) shapes our perception, as well, leading to a shared world-view.
It's in the competition to establish a dominate world-view that problems arise. Science and religion aren't necessarily at odds with one another, unless they articulate completely different visions of our everyday reality. If I say that the reason that Bob is sick is because of demons, a doctor may take issue with my diagnoses. If, on the other hand, the scientists says that evil doesn't exist as an external reality, I need only point to the evil being carried out daily, to say nothing of history, to show that he's wrong. It is the cause that is at issue. And, in the absence of all of the facts, metaphor, once again, raises its obtuse little head to muddy the water ever further.
Just a few years ago “Junk DNA” was considered to be the leftover debris of life’s long march towards its present state. Scientists used it as the perfect example of evolution's disjointed creative process—of trial and error—lots of error. They turned out to be wrong. Not only is “Junk DNA” not junk, it's one more nail in the coffin of such convenient explanations. From God just did it! To “Over a very long time "Stuff" happened.” What kinds of stuff? Stuff! Which tends to be the answer in lieu of an actual answer. God and stuff, it would seem, covers a lot of territory.
Sometimes I watch science shows on the Discovery Channel and I'm always in awe of how much “Science” claims to have figured out. Occasionally, they'll insert the word theory, but rush past it like a card-sharp using sleight of hand to deflect your attention. They allegedly can pin point, with tremendous accuracy, the daily practices of animals dead for fifty million years with no more than a tooth or a toenail. When, in fact, they they frequently can't determine whether a skull and partial skeleton is ape or human, maybe a distant human ancestor, maybe not. Were dinosaurs reptilian? Or, were they descended from birds, possibly some combination. Were they fantastically stupid? Or, were their brains small, but efficient for the demands of some T Rex-chicken hybrid? No one really knows. But there is certainly no shortage of answers being offered.
Switch the channels to religious programming and you find pretty much the same thing. Occasionally humility wins out, but not often. It doesn't pay for some television preacher to say “The bible is God's word, but I'm not really sure what that means.” People searching for the truth don't need someone to state the obvious. They need assurances, security, conviction.
This is simply human nature. Do you want some stock analyst telling you “This stock is real winner! On the other hand, I’ve been wrong before, so who knows!” If you don't invest in them, their TV show, buy their book or go to their church, they'll have to get a different job. And who wants to do that.
Politicians will, likewise, tell you they have a program that will solve all of Americas problems. If you vote for them everyone will have a good paying job and our enemies will cower in fear—or except our humble apologies, depending on the particulars. No politician will say “How should I know! This is complex stuff, after all!” Thereby invoking “The Stuff” once again as the all-encompassing answer, which also doubles as the all-encompassing excuse.
The one constant in all such equations is the need for assurances spoken with conviction. It's what people demand. Anything less than that will not be tolerated.
So, we learn very quickly to assure our loved ones, our bosses, our parents and even our children that we are not only sure, but deeply convicted about our assurances.
In our private moments, however, we shake with fear about life's uncertainties, admitting that we're are deeply unsure of just about everything. If we're fortunate, those who claim to love us, will continue doing so, in spite of our fears and insecurities.
If we happen to be very unlucky, they won't care that we are unsure, they'll simply want us to take care of it. Whatever “It” is! Which only compels the cycle to start all all over again. Meaning; that if we wish to be accepted for our weakness and loved by those who claim to love us, it becomes necessary to admit our lack of surety and move forward—together.
Maybe that's what Jesus intended when he said “Love one another as I have loved you. Love your enemies, as well. And, remember, treat others they way you wish to treated. If you do those things you will have eternal life!” Suggesting, of course, that nothing less will do! What does that mean? I'm not sure. Is it metaphor or reality? But it seems a pretty good place to start.
Mark Magula