Monday, October 24, 2011

Alternate Realities

I was at work chatting with my coworker when she made the statement that “everyone has their own reality.” I didn’t argue with her at first mainly because it made me curious. So before I kept thinking about it I decided to run the question by Gevar. As G was giving his answer my brain kicked in and started running with the idea of everyone having their own reality. To some point I can jump on the band wagon that everyone has their own reality but I eventually have to jump off. Yes, it is true that we have our own unique perspectives and certain things work out for some people that don’t necessarily work out for others, but that doesn’t mean that everyone has their own reality, at least not in the grand scheme of it all. If the concept of reality varies from individual to individual then reality itself doesn’t really exist, right? If it did then we all would have to agree on the same reality, which we don’t, so in my opinion if everyone has their own reality then reality doesn’t exist.

Gevar’s argument was that everyone has their own reality about what they go through personally and how they interpret it. He felt that we interpret things based on our life experiences (which I agree on)… being that his experiences and mine are not going to be identical, so in theory our realities are different. He also went on to say that everyone is at different points and moments in their lives… also reinforcing the argument that we do have different realities. I countered by saying that there has to be a SET reality. There has to be a true reality in which we all exist and agree on. Sure, the direction in life that you may take is different from mine but does that effect reality? Do we confuse reality with perspective or is our individual perspectives reality? I don’t have a definite answer to that. I slightly agree that we have our own reality, but whether we see eye to eye or not, it is not like we can individually mold the “reality” around us into something else entirely. Then say we did have our own reality. What if how we perceived everything was our own unique reality? Why would I choose to constantly live in failure? I have the control to change it, it’s my perception, and therefore I can change it if I find enough evidence to do so. I can make myself believe in whatever I want. I can shape my life into whatever I want. I can choose to conform to someone else’s beliefs or ideals or I can choose my own. Life is basically made from the choices we make. You are the choices you make in life and those choices mold who you into the person you are and how you are perceived. I don’t really understand some of the crazy things some people choose to make sense to them, then again a lot of people don’t see how I come to the conclusions that I come to. We will not particularly see things exactly the same and something’s have to be approached differently for some people to grasp the concept or form the same conclusion another has. Does that really mean that reality really is ours to make up? Does reality change from individual to individual? Just because you believe something to be true or make sense, does that really make it true? Truth means something exists without a doubt or is independent of too much thought.

Well that’s my take; I wonder what other people think of this question.



[Definition] Reality is defined as:

1. the world or the state of things as they actually exist, as opposed to an idealistic or notional idea of them
     a. a thing that is actually experienced or seen, esp. when this is grim or problematic
     b. a thing that exists in fact, having previously only existed in one’s mind
     c. the quality of being lifelike or resembling an original

2. the state or quality of having existence or substance
     a. (Philosophy) existence that is absolute, self-sufficient, or objective, and not subject to human decisions or conventions

3. Phrases
      a. In reality- in actual fact 9used to contrast a false idea of what is true or possible with one that is more accurate)
      b. The reality is- used to assert that the thrust of a matter is not what one would think or expect