Wednesday, May 12, 2004

We are perceptual modules

Each of us is a module of perception in which data is processed and from which a universe is created. There is no such thing as objective reality. Forget about it! As Wordsworth put it, we half perceive and half create our reality. Although our different realities may have an integrating factor, the first thing to realize is that they are quantum, or separate, and self-sufficient.

2 comments:

Matt said...

Philip K. Dick was on amphetamines, so is it fair to say he had capacity to only percieve the ubiquitous? We all percieve a tree as a tree, sex as some kind of sex. Some common perceptions are trivial, a product of the environment. I percieve complex concepts and emotions. Loneliness, Love, Fear. Aren't they more than just some integrating factor? It's too trivial to call emotions a common denominator.

I like the Wordsworth idea. Half self-determination, half fate. I see that duality everywhere. In current politics, everybody wants peace, but there will be no compromise. In statistics, an infinite number of zeros equals 1. Star Maker, Star Destroyer. You and I, we percieve nothing the same way and everything the same way.

Glad I found your blog. Good night.

Doug Mackey said...

You're right, a lot of common emotions are trivial and cannot be considered a true integrating factor in the scheme of things. The same goes for common ideas, which replicate like viruses until they are regarded as truth by virtue of constant repetition. Pretty much everything that is commonly regarded as truth is just wrong. The farther one gets from the only person who can make up his mind what is the truth, which is oneself, the farther one falls into error. Sorry, Mulder, the truth is not out there.