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Reality vs Illusion







  • Reality :
      • Our basic perception of what is - that hard surface in front of you - it is made up of molecules which are formed from atoms which are mostly space. That's right, that hard surface is mostly space - it is not solid!

      The 'hardness' you feel when you touch it is the result of electrical repulsion between your finger and the table.

      In other words, it's all an illusion.

      Because we all perceive it in the same way - therefore we agree that it is solid.

      What you and I perceive to be the truth is our feel of the surface and our vision of light reflected from it.

      Thus our experience of this surface, and almost everything else of the physical world for that matter, is the messages conveyed by our senses.

      Here I am referring to the five classical senses, which are :

      • Sight
      • Hearing
      • Taste
      • Smell
      • Touch

      The sky is blue, birds sing, sugar is sweet, we smell the roses, we feel the air on our skin.

      Thus we have a common frame of reference - our physical world!

      Provided we all have the same perception of the experience, we agree on what is and what is not.

      Now, if we take something from the physical world and place it on your hand, say a spider.



      Now what is your truth?

      Your reaction is now dependent on your perception of spiders!

      You are now in your own personal truth. It is different for each one of us. Your reality has become subjective.

      Whilst being subjective, your reaction is no less real, that is the way you feel. Someone else of course may feel differently about spiders, however, spiders are still spiders regardless of how we feel about them. They have two body segments, eight legs, and they are classified in the order Araneae - that is the reality.

      Personal development note: Subjective experience is where each of us branches off into our own personal perception.






  • Illusion :
      • Not optical illusions, but perceptual illusions :- things we take for granted as being true. These can include memories and very often our take on a given situation.

      How do we determine what actually is, and what is not. Our memories contain a record of events and experiences. To us they are accurate, but to an observer are they real?

      Our strongest memories are of events with a strong emotional connection.

      When we see a movie, our emotions are triggered and we experience the action as if it actually happening. The drama, suspense, fear, laughter, we react as if it is real, but it is just a flickering simulation.

      When we recall an event from our memories with strong emotional connections, the areas of our brain which are triggered are exactly the same ones which are triggered by real events.

      As with the movie, we can re-live long past events as if they are actually happening. We can feel the laughter, the embarrassment, the anger as if they just happened.

      The memories are nothing more than neural patterns in our brains, yet they trigger actual emotional responses.

      So when a new situation arises, old memories are triggered and our emotional reaction to what is happening is dictated by memories as well as the events themselves. We tend to see what we want to see, we see what corresponds to our remembered experience.

    Personal development note : Memory works like this :- Images we see are stored as patterns in the neural net of our brains. The images themselves as we saw them are not recorded as such. When (maybe years later) we recall that memory, that neural pattern is retrieved, and an image of the memory is reconstructed and interpreted. That is why two of us can have a memory of the same event, yet years later disagree on what we saw, because our reconstructed, interpreted memory will be different depending on our own emotional content attached to the memory.

      Points of view : A child is being scolded by an angry adult for something he or she did not do!

      Point of view 1 : The angry adult is determined to correct the behavior of a naughty child which has over-stepped the line. He/she feels they are simply explaining right and wrong. They see themselves in the role of a teacher or a shining example.

      Point of view 2 : The child vainly protesting its innocence feels attacked. Its world is being invaded. Its world may never be the same secure place again.

      Two conflicting scenarios, yet the same actual situation.

    Self help note : Which is real and which is the illusion? The answer of course depends on whether you are the adult or the child.







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