Do we live in the same reality? No, this is not some conspiracy theory, neither some Sci-Fi perspective. Let’s just think about this for a minute or two… what it is real for me, it is real for everyone? How do we define what’s real and what’s not? If I see, say, think and believe that the sky is orange it means that it is my reality even though everyone knows that the sky is red. It’s easy to figure out what’s real if it exists in physical world, but this is not what I’m trying to say here. We are mostly influenced by thoughts and ideas even if they aren’t ours and that’s why we are so different from each other.
So if we are mostly influenced by things that are not in the physical world, how can we decide what’s real and what’s not? We usually use the same principle as in the physical world: what most of the people think it’s real, it means that it is real. Is that true? If 10000 people think that aliens aren’t real and 100 think that they are, it means that the 10000 are right and the 100 are wrong? Maybe so, but for those 100, aliens are real and that has influence over their being. That’s part of their reality and if they decided that aliens are real, they don’t care about what the others think. There is a never ending flux of ideas and thoughts that has an influence over our life… our behavior… our feelings… who can decide what is real and what is not? If I think God is real, I behave based on that belief. It’s my reality.
Most of the time people argue because each one has their own reality, but they almost never think that maybe their reality is not the same. I think this is different than opinions because of it’s influence on us. We behave based on that…we eat, drink, walk and talk based on what we think… we bring into the physical world our thoughts through our behavior. Other people see our behavior and try to apply their thoughts to understand why we do what we do, but that can’t completely apply and this causes frustrations and arguments. How could they understand? Maybe our thoughts are the same, but the way they blend is unique.
So what is real for me is also real for you? I’m sure that there are parts all of us see the same way, but it doesn’t mean that we live in the same reality. We all are too different to live in the same reality.
Fantastic post! I think that we each create our own reality through language, based on our history, experience, emotional spaces, etc. So much of what we each treat as truth is often an opinion, I think. Yet, we treat our opinions as our truth and from there we create a reality. For example, think about how we think of other people. I might think that Fred is fantastic and always engages. But really, “fantastic” is an opinion. It is not something that can be true or false. However, in treating my opinion that Fred is fantastic as a truth, I have created a whole reality around Fred being fantastic. Someone else may think that Fred is annoying. This is another opinion. Neither of us is right, we just have different opinions. The person who think Fred is annoying probably avoids Fred and has created a whole reality around Fred being annoying. Another example might be two people going to the same theatre production at the same time. Both people watched the same production, yet they may have very different opinions. Again, neither is right or wrong, yet both have potentially created their own reality for the same show.
I really do love your posts. You always give me so much to think about. Thank you!
You made a point that everybody knows the sky is red. It got me thinking about the word REALITY. Reality is complex totality. so maybe if I can break it into pieces we can simplify it a bit. First off I need to qualify what I am talking about. Language is key here Without words it is all void. OUR reality, what I mean here is humans are by nature built to live in a 3-D world This means if there are more or fewer dimensions we are not equipt to see them. I used the word if because I assume there are more but I don’t see them so I can’t say for positive.
Reality is our perceptions, what we see, hear touch, smell, and taste. We have through our words defined everything aroundSky is blue, apples are red, sometimes, leaves are green sometimes. If your human body is in tip-top shape you can enjoy total reality in a 3d world. What if you are deaf and you and I are at a rock concert. The reality is we are at a rock concert and the music is blasting I can hear it. You hear nothing. Reality hasn’t changed it’s how we receive it. perceive it, define it. I am watching you rock to the music. You keep better time than I do. Reality is the constant, it doesn’t change. our perception is different. What about someone is blind or color blind. You would see thing differently or not at all. An example there is a bright red car racing down the street. I see it right away and get out of the way. Colorblind You see the object in the hues you see and get out of the way. Blind you see nothing. , bbu7t you hear it and you jump in the opposite direction. Reality is constant. our perception and definitions are different. A mental disorder might cause a different perception. I worked with the handicap in my younger years. There was one boy teens. I think he was diagnosed as schizophrenic. We didn’t talk much but I liked joining him outside. I would see him in the playground sitting in the sandbox sifting sand in his hands So I joined him. in his world.
I hope I helped some Reality is the constant relative to time and space The difference lies in our perception and definition.
No, we don’t live in the same reality. My reality could be someone else perception and vice versa. Everybody has his or her reality. However, it is vital to bring reality into this realistic world, otherwise, how we know what we say or write, see, or think is real. Reality needs proof and evidence. Am I going out of topic?
I have schizophrenia and have experienced psychosis as well as decades of being in remission. My sense of reality seems to be at two polar opposites. It’s very difficult to tell when you’re in either one what is real. As much as I am sure that I am currently sane, I have to accept that I have had two head injurys, one resulting in a coma and that I cannot rely 100% on my thoughts and perceptions.
NLP is a good avenue to look down to understanding how people percieve the world differently.
I agree! And i wish every single person on this earth read this! Because some people out there just can’t accept that others have different thinking than them.