My son presented a truly interesting concept to me the other day, in the form of an article. The article was written by a professor at some university in Southern California. The idea was basic, what we see as reality is actually an illusion. As would be expected, I was somewhat suspect, even after reading the article. But in a brief conversation with my son sometime thereafter, my son explained the idea, in better terminology.
The idea is this. Just like when we look at our computer monitor and see a collection of icons, which are links to files, the icon itself it not the thing itself, but instead a representation of the file. Our physical eye cannot see the file, which in reality is a string of 0's and 1's, which, when properly interpreted and understood, can communicate a wide variety of things, things far beyond the little icon on the computer monitor.
So too is it with physical reality. When we look at, hear, smell and feel the world around us, we are actually only seeing a very shallow, one-sided representation of reality. The perceptions we take in with our senses are limited and we are incapable of "seeing/hearing/smelling/tasting/feeling" complete reality. The senses are not designed to and simply cannot grasp reality as a whole.
The end result of the conversation between my son and I took the basic concept of the original article, refined it and, in my opinion, vastly improved it. The author's original concept called the physical a mere illusion. My son and I, in contrast, defined the physical as not illusion, but only one aspect of reality, a very small part, to be more precise. The spiritual/emotional aspect makes up much more of reality that the mere physical.
In a conversation I had with one of my younger sons, I took a very tangible example of just how real this concept is. It is said, in physiology, that the body we have at one point, is completely replaced with new cells, within a seven year time period. What it is then that defines who we are? Certainly not the mere physical, for within seven years, it is something different.
Ruminate on that for awhile. It truly is mind-blowing.
The idea is this. Just like when we look at our computer monitor and see a collection of icons, which are links to files, the icon itself it not the thing itself, but instead a representation of the file. Our physical eye cannot see the file, which in reality is a string of 0's and 1's, which, when properly interpreted and understood, can communicate a wide variety of things, things far beyond the little icon on the computer monitor.
So too is it with physical reality. When we look at, hear, smell and feel the world around us, we are actually only seeing a very shallow, one-sided representation of reality. The perceptions we take in with our senses are limited and we are incapable of "seeing/hearing/smelling/tasting/feeling" complete reality. The senses are not designed to and simply cannot grasp reality as a whole.
The end result of the conversation between my son and I took the basic concept of the original article, refined it and, in my opinion, vastly improved it. The author's original concept called the physical a mere illusion. My son and I, in contrast, defined the physical as not illusion, but only one aspect of reality, a very small part, to be more precise. The spiritual/emotional aspect makes up much more of reality that the mere physical.
In a conversation I had with one of my younger sons, I took a very tangible example of just how real this concept is. It is said, in physiology, that the body we have at one point, is completely replaced with new cells, within a seven year time period. What it is then that defines who we are? Certainly not the mere physical, for within seven years, it is something different.
Ruminate on that for awhile. It truly is mind-blowing.
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