Bruce
Reality 2
Ahem ;) Funny that you should put that kind of title, it's one of the things I babble about quite often. Well, the post sure incited me to repeat it all again, so...
"We, as a society, accept many truths in this physical life, because truth is just a personal perception. I once read a book and critiqued it as incredible, enthralling, admirable but slightly contentious, and a friend of mine, who also read the same book, saw it as appalling, argumentative, repulsive, and derogatory. Which opinion is the truth? The answer is both, because the truth is as unique as each of us are."
-Actually, it's truth because what you're assking, when you ask what a book is like, is how did they personally like the book, what impression did it leave on them. Since books, objectively and really, are just a bunch of letters on paper, chemicals on chemicals arranged in a certain fashion, there can be no objective truth what impression it leaves on people ( although you could make statistics, but statistics aren't reality, they're just how the "majortity" would approximate their views ), although you could draw some comparisons with other books and make conclusions out of it, as well as comparisons with one's morals. However, it's not that much because truth is a matter of personal perspective, but because that there is no universal truth in the given example, and there can't be, unless you and your comrade are completely identical, what's, by the way, impossible ;)
"Recently there was a doctor who would carry out his patients' death wishes. He would actually �put them to sleep�, so to speak. This doctor saw himself as a savior, the person who relieved the suffering of those that endured inconceivable amounts of physical, spiritual, and emotional pain. Others saw him as a murderer or an executioner. Despite the fact that the court imprisoned him, each view was one of truth; each truth was personal to each individual."
-Actually, none of the given opinions was thhe truth, if you ask me. Why? Simply, because truth wasn't the answer given, the answer given were personal ideas, assumptions about the "truth". If someone is convinced they're saying the truth, it doesn't make it any more true. After all, they could be telling someone else's lie ;)
"Truth vs. Reality"
"I began this writing by saying that I've accepted the Theory of Evolution as a physical truth in my life. I believe that Charles Darwin was, more or less, a man of common sense in a world of corrupt religion. Nevertheless, we still can't associate his theory with reality, when in fact it is only a personal truth, varying with each person who judges and analyzes it."
-Well, his theory is how the reality as of nnow came to be. Now, no matter how intelligent someone is, you can't know everything, you can only assume. If his assumptions have some touch-points with reality, well, it's quite likely, but it's a matter of opinion because we can't check it for certain, can we? There's no way you can walk amongst dinosaurs, unless, of course, you pay a visit to your local drug dealer. Of course, that doesn't count as scientific proof *grins* nommater how convinced you are ;)
"Truth is not synonymous with reality, and it never will be."
-Actually, truth is synonymous with reality,, but we don't know much things which are true. We just make assumptions, ultimate truth cannot be really achieved. There's always more to something ;)
"We, as a society, have accepted this planet as our true home, which houses and nourishes our physical life. We conduct our daily business of physical needs and communication on this immense (yet so small), round planet composed mainly of substances that we refer to as hydrogen, carbon, and nitrogen. We accept that the planet was born, and thus will eventually die. We accept that we were born into this world, and consequently will die also. We accept, collectively, that that which is born must eventually die. We accept these because they are true to us."
-We accept these because time showed that itt's what happens. These truths are based on reality, luv, otherwise they wouldn't constantly happen.
"Ultimately, though, I believe we will realize that what we've learned to be true can be broken with what really is."
-Of course, that happens all the time. New ddiscoveries get made, and then new ones. Fake notions about the world get trampled by real events. You see, reality hits us all on the head. It's reality that makes us fall when we jump in the air, not some kind of cultural influence. I mean, why, why would every culture, without having contact before, have the same sort of truths? Unless, of course, they had some reality to be based on. Otherwise, there would be surely at least one place where people walked on water, don't you think?
"It has been written that Jesus Christ, one of this world's messiahs, could walk on water. How could he do that, you ask? Well first, he realized that you could swim through the deserts. You see, we limit our mind to physical restrictions that science has explained and expanded upon. We believe water to be a liquid, because it is collectively an accepted truth."
-We classify water as a liquid, because it'ss our way with applying cathegories to see if something fits in with the definition, if so, then label it. However, in reality, water is this collection of atoms, quarks, molecules, and all the things we don't know about, and it really doesn't care if we call it a liquid or not. It has certain chemical properties, though, which make walking on water very, very, unlikely. I won't say impossible because then I'll get a load of replies saying how quantum physics says nothing is impossible, yadda, yadda, but it's really, really unlikely.
"In reality, nothing in this world is real. Reality begins where physical limitations end. Reality exists on the spiritual plain, whereas truths replace reality on this physical plain."
-So, those atoms don't exist, there is no maatter, then, but it's only our perspective? How can we exist, if there is no matter? And if it's an issue of perspective, well, matter doesn't ask us about it. Do hidrogen and nitrogen molecules go ask the nearest chemist what kind of matter they are? The matter we talk about existed before us. The spiritual world is a world of perspectives; the real reality is in the physical. The reflection of reality we see, the flawed image of it, are the truths you talk about. However, reality is physical in nature. Not we'd know much about it, since it's infinitely complex; we'll never grasp it all. There's always more to discover, things we didn't know about reality, but, were always really there with us, we know it or not, whatever we might think about them personally.
"When we die, we leave behind the truths and enter the world of reality. Our real life is a spiritual journey that only exists on this physical plain. This life is only a dream in reality, and our dreams on this plain are closer to reality than our accepted truths are."
-My truth is when you die, you decompost, thhe energy gets dispersed around, and that's it. Finito. Of course, neither of us can prove anything, and reality will hit us both in the head later on, anyway.
"Have you ever attempted a 360-degree somersault dive into your front lawn? Have you ever tried running a marathon on a lake? Have you ever swum to the bottom of the pool to catch your breath? Why haven't you tried these feats? The answer is simple; to you, these questions defy all the truths you have learned and accepted in your life on this planet. You've blinded yourself from accomplishing these simple tasks by believing that the physical restrictions on this planet are reality. Deny the existence of your truths, and reality breaks all restrictions. You think gravity is real? I don't, but I live with it."
-Well, has it occured to you that, if peoplee could do that just without knowing they had restrictions, that then a colony of water-walkers would surely exist today? You know, it's quite peculiar that animals play by the same rules. Did we talk to them about Newton, or did their parents gently explain to them they couldn't walk water, and discussed the nature of reality? I'll ask my cat, which, by some miracle, seems to fall down when it jumps in the air. And I didn't tell him anything ;)
"You probably think I'm crazy, like I'm the one who did a 360-degree somersault dive into my front lawn, but suffered some realistic disaster. Frankly, we've been given a choice to believe what we want to, and my purpose with this lecture wasn't to alter your beliefs, but to present you with an alternative outlook on life. Choose for yourself what you want to believe."
Everything in this lecture may be wrong."
-Thanks for giving me something we can agreee on, Brandon, on the end ;) Bruce