Reality Isn't Real: Blog #3

I find reality to be one of the most confusing things we, as humans, have come to believe in. For every single individual, reality changes slightly. My reality is based upon a mixture of my religious beliefs, my past experiences, the way I have been conditioned to interact with the world around me, and varies day-by-day based on what I am experiencing. Also, reality is extremely fluid, and can often get confusing for individuals when “false memories” are introduced. How do we know what is real and what is something our minds made up to fill in the gaps. For example, there are many “memories” we have from when we were younger that we most likely have re-imagined and reformed to fit details that change each time it is recalled. Or we remember events in exaggerated and altered forms based on the emotions we were experiencing at the time. This brings up the issue of whether “reality” is the exact events that happened, or how individuals experience events.

In terms of my own reality, when I see something such as Blessed Teresa Neumann I know that there must be a scientific and logical explanation of everything that has been claimed to have happened to her. However, many others know that it is proof that their religion is true and reinforces their beliefs. But how can the realities of the situation be so conflicting? Possibly because reality is a social construct and not an absolute truth. Just putting that out there.

I ere somewhere in the middle, and do not quite agree with Pinker that everything is hard-wired in our genes, but I do think that if you are searching for something that is true and real then genes are the answer. They are the hard facts that cannot be debated. If DNA is left at a crime scene, we then know that the individual who has the matching DNA was at said crime scene. However, genes can change reality by being aware or ignorant of them. If an individual is tested for the genes that are known to code for Asperger’s, or have a higher probability to cause Asperger’s, they then will know from that point on that some day they will most likely get the disease themselves. Their reality is forever changed and the way they view themselves and the world is altered. Some individuals know that there is a chance this gene runs in their family, but they opt for the Schrodinger’s Cat alternative. They opt to not know either way, and therefore live their lives both as they will never have the disease but also will have it. This reality is the most fascinating to me. The fact that reality changes based on the knowledge we personally have, not the facts that are already concrete. We can opt to put off our own shifts in reality by remaining ignorant, or by keeping our lives in Schrodinger’s box. Personally I am in the Schrodinger conundrum far too often, since not only do I procrastinate but also prefer to remain in ignorant bliss for as long as possible in many cases where I am dreading the seemingly more-likely outcome. However, at any point I have the ability to change reality. Fascinating how reality isn’t actually real, but rather only experienced.