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DiscoStu

what do you think reality really looks like?

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we have a fairly specialised visual processing system, so what do you think "reality" really looks like?

or does it even look like anything?

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I think we all see a crude approximation of reality. Humans can only perceive a very narrow range of the electromagnetic spectrum and don't have enough brain capacity to properly process and understand the things we can perceive.

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its perception is dictated by the means of perception

or its objective perception is dictated by the means of subjective perception.

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It's kind of a false question...the idea of what something looks like presupposes that somebody or something is doing the looking. To ask what something "looks like" from an objective standpoint is a bit of a misnomer - objectivity (or the concept of objective reality) by definition has no standpoint, and can't really be experienced from one in a strict sense.

But if I had to play along my guess would be that it looks something like it does when the "doors of perception" have been opened ;)

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John Wayne

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So would a true reality be without perspective? Would it be the experience of everything all at once? Sounds like you would have to be part of everything to truly experience reality. I hope in death this is something I get to experience.

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Reality is your ego taking a massive shit on protons, electrons and neutrons.

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Well the presumption is that reality must be perceived through the senses, in this instance our sense of sight. In that respect I guess reality 'looks' like light.

If we presume that 'reality' can even be perceived at all by humans, then I would say it would be perceived as being a unified whole, of which we are an inextricable part. I guess the trickier question would be "Through what sense might we gain a true, or the truest, impression of reality at large?"

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I have often wondered this. Its hard to even understand the question let alone ponder an answer. One thing I do know is I wish my pondering was as smart and interesting as all the above posts! Nice work guys the ability to express complex and undefined ideas makes these questions even more intriguing.

Some of this stuff here in general could make some pretty cool ideas for a movie!

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I also like Terry Pratchett's take on reality.........

www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Yc_uA06tzxg

Edited by Dreamwalker
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Also funnily enough, and on a mini-tangent, mindfulness meditation is sort of all about the practice of striving to experience reality as it really is. It's really cool in that regard, especially the way it trains you not to jump to conclusions and take things for granted all the time.

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My first thought was: If look implies seeing with human eyes, then reality really looks like you and I see it.

But to what extent is the picture of reality in our minds eye the result of a convolution of the data streams from all our senses? Does a deaf person see the world the same way a hearing person does? The phenomena of synthesia suggest probably not. And how much artistic license does our mind have over our picture of reality? The evolution of art from 2d pictographs to 3d "photo" realism suggests our brain does significant post-processing of the data stream.

The appearance of reality seems to be dependent of both the sensing organ and the brain that processes it.

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I also think reality is taking a massive shit on your ego!

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Reality= shit happens... not for any specific reason.

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