The Reality Thread

[s_lone]

We often refer to something called ‘reality’. But what is reality? Does reality include any single thing our minds can come up with? Or is reality exclusive in the sense that some things are simply not real? Would that imply the existence of a ‘non-reality’?

Surely, planet Earth is more real than planet Tatooine from Star Wars... Does that mean there is a spectrum of reality? Are some things more real than others? What would ‘being more real’ mean?

For those who really want to join this perhaps useless reflection, here are a couple of questions that can maybe or maybe not help us define what reality is exactly... Feel free to add some more!


WHAT IS MORE REAL?

A horse or a unicorn?

George W. Bush or JFK?

Numbers (1-2-3) or letters (A-B-C)?

A brain or a thought?

A forgotten childhood memory or a remembered dream from last night?

Thirst or water?

Sadness or a tear?

Hunger or love?

Energy or structure?

 

[MHz]

Word or power?

 

[darkbeaver]

Reality is pain.

 

[darkbeaver]

Reality is pain.Or is it a baby? Chicken soup maybe. A crack in the sidewalk. Cool water on a hot day. Flat lines. A kitten. I don't know what it is, sometimes I think I do, but then I forget.

 

[look3467]

Really?

Peace>>>AJ:love9:

 

[darkbeaver]

Yeah really.:smile:

 

[darkbeaver]

Yeah really. I lost my soul today, must have left it in the ATM machine.:smile:

 

[lysyfacet]

reality can be a very scary thing to some eh. It gets you thinking alot and in a philosophical way too.:idea:

 

[look3467]

Yeah really. I lost my soul today, must have left it in the ATM machine.:smile:

Your soul is not everything you know.

Peace>>>AJ:love9:

 

[able]

Falling from a point far enough from the ground to actually have time to think, and know that you are in for a lot of pain. If you live of course. Reality is when the "if you live" sinks in.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Reality is what exists. Our perceptions of it are somewhat limited, but I've no doubt there's an objective reality out there that exists regardless of our perceptions of it, unless you want to take the solipsist view that nothing provably exists but yourself. The word of course has many shades of meaning. The reality of the earth is different from the reality of Tatooine: you can kick the earth and know something is there by the sensations that causes, Tatooine exists only as an idea, but ideas are real things too. They do affect how you behave, though perhaps not as quickly and dramatically as that toe you broke kicking the earth will. Similarly, George W. Bush currently exists as a tangible person; you can kick him too, at least in principle (not recommended, at least not while he's President), while JFK exists only as memories, but there's solid evidence he was once as real and kickable as Bush.

Beyond that, I'm inclined to think that purely philosophical discussions of what reality is rapidly go straight to stupid.

 

[temperance]

• Power (which includes achievement and feeling worthwhile as well as winning).
• Love & Belonging (this includes groups as well as families or loved ones).
• Freedom (includes independence, autonomy, your own 'space').
• Fun (includes pleasure and enjoyment).
• Survival (includes nourishment, shelter, sex).One of the core principles of Reality Therapy is that, whether we are aware of it or not, we are all the time acting to meet these needs.
  
  http://www.angelfire.com/ab/brightminds/tReality.html
  

 

[katnut]

Everything we perceive is totally subjective. No two people experience the same emotions when they hear the song of the nightingale.
Knowing this, doesn't it seem obvious that there are alternatives to our version of reality? Everything we believe to exist outside of us actually exists within us. When we refer, then to objective reality, we are referring to what we view as objective through the lens of our own perception. We refer to a viewpoint, that is, by its very nature, subjective.
I found this clip about perceiving reality very interesting.

http://www.perceivingreality.com/
__________________

 

[china]

s_lone ,

We often refer to something called ‘reality’. But what is reality?

If you truly want to know, then do not seek reality, life, God or whatever. This will only be an escape from sorrow, from conflict; but truly want to know and understand the very cause of sorrow, conflict, and when mind is liberated from it, you shall know. When the mind is vulnerable, when it has lost all support, explanations. when it is naked, then it shall know the bliss of truth.