Tuesday, May 04, 2010
in mathematics, we assign letters to represent different variables. this enables us to actually present what we are actually finding.
similarly, in life, we assign different names to different objects in order for us to actually name the object instead of trying to describe it with a myriad of adjectives.
so actually, are any of these real? in math, we can easily replace the variable
x with another variable, let's say
m. parallel, what we call a bowl by english speakers is called 碗 by chinese speakers.
so which is real?
and if this bowl breaks, do we still call it a bowl, or do we call it rubbish? did the bowl become unreal the instant it broke? but how do we even measure that "instant"?
of course, the above logic is arguably simple to understand.
physical things apart, let us look at things that we cannot see.
our thoughts, our feelings.
first feeling that most of us get after we get a cut on a finger; pain. why do we feel pain? why do we even call pain, pain? if we had assigned the word happy to the feeling pain, would i be correct to say that i'm feeling happy that i got cut?
the answer is simply no, because it the definitions of the words pain and happy are inherent in us since birth. and this is what makes us human. to be able to appreciate of the fundamental meanings of these words, and to be able to express them freely, musically, literally, verbally.
but what if all of our understanding is wrong in the first place?
most of us would have heard of this saying, "seeing is believing." there are other sayings that go "there is more than meet the eye."
once again, which is true?
scientifically, the latter definitely holds more truth. consider the entire electromagnetic spectrum. what we humans can see is merely a small fraction of what there is around us, also known as visible light.
(from my rough calculation it is approximately 4%) what would we see if we can actually look out of this range? similarly, what would we hear if we could hear beyond human limitations?
does this coincide with the scientists' claim that we humans are only using less than 5% of our brain capacity?
that aside, this sets us into the motion again, is what we see and what we hear real?
the most concrete fact that i can think of are fishes. some fishes are known to be able to see infrared light, and the mackerel can see ultraviolet light. so what do these fishes see? are they able to see the corals and other marine life as we do? if they can, would they look the same as what they look to us? if they can't, does this mean that the corals that we see do not exist for these fishes?
imagine an organism that can see x-ray. like our x-ray images, would we only appear to be a moving skeleton to this very organism? would our skin and flesh appear to be non-existent to this organism as well?
so think again, what is real?
back to the discussion of the reality, or rather, the un-reality of our thoughts and our feelings.
following the example of the broken cup, if we say that anything that dies/diminish/change form is something that is not real, wouldn't that render all our thoughts and feelings unreal?
and that is true biologically too. someone once said that you would never step back the same place the same twice. simply because the next time that you step back, the constituents that make you you, fundamentally your cells, would have underwent countless cycles of growth and death and generation. so you are not the same you the previous moment.
but the fact remains that you are still you, your behaviour and characteristic and personality does not change with each death and birth of your cell. obviously we cannot say that the mind controls the above, because brain cells do die as well. so, is it really something else that is controlling us? or is this something just us.
and does this something control our thoughts and feelings?
by now, you would have probably been overwhelmed by how much unreality there is around us, and in us. if we are able to come to terms with this fact, wouldn't all our problems be solved instantaneously?
why, you may ask? all that is left to do is to change your thinking.
because there is no real solution to an unreal problem.
my retrospect;
7:59 PM
