Newsgroups: comp.ai.philosophy,talk.philosophy.misc,talk.religion.newage,alt.atheism,alt.pagan,alt.consciousness
Path: cantaloupe.srv.cs.cmu.edu!nntp.club.cc.cmu.edu!hudson.lm.com!news.pop.psu.edu!news.cac.psu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!ix.netcom.com!netcom.com!javilk
From: javilk@netcom.com (Javilk)
Subject: Re: Reality...???
Message-ID: <javilkCzIIAq.F6@netcom.com>
Followup-To: comp.ai.philosophy,talk.philosophy.misc,talk.religion.newage,alt.atheism,alt.pagan,alt.consciousness
Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 261-4700 guest)
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL1]
References:  <39le9c$e68@Starbase.Neo <Pine.LNX.3.91.941112015515.9741A-100000@wilbur.protree.com> <3akj40$3ad@ixnews1.ix.netcom.com>
Date: Sat, 19 Nov 1994 11:23:13 GMT
Lines: 42

Richard Roose (roose@ix.netcom.com) wrote:
: Would any one like to take a crack at defining "reality"?
: -- 

     Reality... is not what we perceive directly,
 as much as what we perceive consistently. 

      We may find our various instruments (eyes, voltmeters, etc.) 
occasionaly deceived by "transients" of other arenas, (starvation, bad 
contacts, etc.), but by and large, what we perceive consistently is
what reality is.   
      A large part of that reality is termed the laws of physics,
chemistry, biology(?), and to a lesser part, the various laws of
economics, sociology(?) etc.   These things are more real because they 
are statistical...  That is to say, you can count on them, can use them 
in planning your life.

      On a more personal level, reality is what we can percieve and alter,
what we can take apart and put back together.  
      Your neighbor is real because you can interact with him.  The
holograms in Disney World aren't real-real because you can't interact with
them.  The mountain off in the distance isn't as real to you as your lamp
post, because you remember changing the bulb, and how it shifts in
perspective as you walk about it. (Assuming you haven't nearly died
climbing that mountain!) The stuff on the computer screen is even more
real to you as you edit it.  (Even though the bunch of electrons,
aratistic arangements of glowing phosphor, all last so breifly, it is FAR
LESS real than that lamp post.  Just try kicking electrical cord vs
kicking the lamp post.)
     So on a personal level, it involves how many neurons have
participated in the perceptions and how deeply they have encoded the
pattern in your brain. 


-J- javilk@netcom.com ------------------------------------------
Laugh at yourself, The Goddess loves company -- and You! -------
After all, we wouldn't want her to cancel the show, would we? --
----------------------------------------------------------------
A Pagan Scientist -- I am trying to find out HOW She did it!


-- 
