I was seeing this program on the Discovery Channel and it set me thinking. Scientists had implanted an electrode into the brain of a mouse and the mouse was placed in a box with a small hole. The electrode was placed in such a manner that when an electrical impulse was transmitted, the pleasure regions of the brain were activated. Whenever the mouse peeped into the hole, the pleasure regions were stimulated. After some time , the mouse kept peeking into the hole. And I realized the reality that is constituted by the mouse is actually what the brain constructs for him. The reality that is perceived by the scientist is that of a mouse frantically and to be fair comically is that of a mouse being fooled into poking his head into a hole.And to take the abstraction even little more is that for somebody the reality perceived by the scientist could be comical. Imagine two white coated scientists studiously and diligently observing a mouse putting into a hole for months all together.
Somewhat like The Matrix. So what actually constitutes reality is actually an illusion. I remember my venerable Econometrics professor (just the recall of the word 'econometrics' gives me the nightmares) telling us that a table may seem solid to the eyes, but the distance between two adjacent atoms in the wood is equivalent to a man standing alone in a large auditorium.
Marketing 101 states that perception is reality. Scores of marketeers have made their money by convincing 'gullible' consumers that this is the reality just by manipulating their perceptions. Lets take the example of whitening creams I find it reprehensible when I see icons like Shah Rukh Khan endorsing whitening creams. Whitening creams!!! Really!!!
Excess melanin was put into our body by evolution for people in tropical regions so that the harmful effects of Sun is mitigated. Lighter colored people abound in the colder and northern climes. And suddenly, that has become the in thing. Remember Afghan Snow? So now the reality being perpetrated is that it is not cool to be dark.
On a philosophical track, the Self or Ego identifies with the body. And that becomes reality. So to nurture the reality it attaches itself more strongly to the needs of the body. And that is what constitutes Maya. The path of the philosopher is to detach the Self from the body and perceive reality. Isnt it ironic that I use the words 'perceive' and 'reality' in the same sentence.
But then maybe we don't want reality. As the character Cipher says in The Matrix 'I know this steak is not real and the taste that I feel is just my brain fooling me, But I would rather be fooled'.
That would be manna from Heaven for all the marketers and spin doctors across the world and beyond!!!
Somewhat like The Matrix. So what actually constitutes reality is actually an illusion. I remember my venerable Econometrics professor (just the recall of the word 'econometrics' gives me the nightmares) telling us that a table may seem solid to the eyes, but the distance between two adjacent atoms in the wood is equivalent to a man standing alone in a large auditorium.
Marketing 101 states that perception is reality. Scores of marketeers have made their money by convincing 'gullible' consumers that this is the reality just by manipulating their perceptions. Lets take the example of whitening creams I find it reprehensible when I see icons like Shah Rukh Khan endorsing whitening creams. Whitening creams!!! Really!!!
Excess melanin was put into our body by evolution for people in tropical regions so that the harmful effects of Sun is mitigated. Lighter colored people abound in the colder and northern climes. And suddenly, that has become the in thing. Remember Afghan Snow? So now the reality being perpetrated is that it is not cool to be dark.
On a philosophical track, the Self or Ego identifies with the body. And that becomes reality. So to nurture the reality it attaches itself more strongly to the needs of the body. And that is what constitutes Maya. The path of the philosopher is to detach the Self from the body and perceive reality. Isnt it ironic that I use the words 'perceive' and 'reality' in the same sentence.
But then maybe we don't want reality. As the character Cipher says in The Matrix 'I know this steak is not real and the taste that I feel is just my brain fooling me, But I would rather be fooled'.
That would be manna from Heaven for all the marketers and spin doctors across the world and beyond!!!
Interesting take on reality. But during a long lecture even a solipsist feels thirsty and has that glass of water, BTW who is the solipsist lecturing to ? ha ha
ReplyDeleteSo probably we don't believe exactly what we are intellectually persuaded about. we perhaps don't trust our intellectual capabilities to understand reality. So what is being tested is our intellectual capability and not reality.
Baiju
ReplyDeleteMaybe we over intellectualize. And our inherent biases and prejudices color our perception of reality!!!