Friday, August 18, 2023
On a recent documentary, I learned that we experience reality in tiny bits. The brain interpolates most of what’s happening. Most of our reality is “made up” by the brain. Two people can experience the same stimuli in totally different ways, and each swears by the “truth.” The internet is full of people either seeing a purple and black dress or a white and gold one, and then fighting about it. But they are fighting over an illusion. Your certitude about anything is a laugh to the dodgy leprechaun called “reality.”
Reality is both questionable and definitive. Seems like a paradox, but all fronts have backs and all beginnings have ends. If you could experience reality unequivocally, then you would never have a question, and you’d be God. Why would you ever want to lose the potential for wonderment?
The outside is crumbly, blurry, and shifty. One minute, you see black, and the next, it’s white. If you don’t believe me, go knock yourself out with all of the optical illusions out there. The brain is deceiving you. But do you need to get a hold of totality? Couldn’t you simply enjoy not knowing? Trying to be “ahead of the curve” is foolish. If reality were a curve then we could predict outcomes, but there is no 100%. Remember all fronts have backs. All answers have questions. One cannot be without the other. Rather than trying to outsmart reality, why not be open to the ignorance that must remain in you as a human. You cannot pin down what’s unequivocally true. It’s all somewhat illusory and you only have a tiny portion of the truth. The rest is unknown. That you are conscious may be the only certainty that there is. The rest is a strong maybe with a healthy portion of faith. If you are uncertain about something, that’s a good start. Perhaps we shouldn’t be so afraid of that.