Dear Daughter: Is There Actually Such a Thing as an “Objective Reality”?

“Objective Reality”?

And, so, Dear Daughter, I like numerous others I am sure, have been wondering as of late if there really is, in fact, such a thing as an “Objective Reality,” i.e., something that all of us (to the extent that even “we” are objectively “real”) actually see in the same way, and as the same thing.

I hope, for example, that when we all see children playing, people and objects which we love, cars, doctors, rooms, horses — you name it — what I see is the same as what you see.

It would seem to me that, at some level, clearly, we must all, in fact, see the very same thing, for, how else could we and The Universe then effectively function?

So, at one level, the answer must be a sort of an intuitive “yes”.

Going a little further

However, if we really reflect a little further, I think that things become a little more uncertain.

Let us say, for example, that I am looking up at the sky at what I perceive to be a magnificent “rainbow” of colours: green, red, white, yellow, etc.

Now, does someone with x-ray vision see the same thing as I do, or does he or she see a further, much deeper conglomeration of x-ray dots and molecules?

How about someone with failing eyesight? What does he or she actually see when they look up at my “alleged” rainbow?

And, Another Level

Take it to another level.

Do men, and women, see things the same? I am not so sure about that one, either.

Take the examples of
a) their child;
b) a sports car and
c) another woman.

What does a man or a woman see when he or she looks at their lovely child, if he or she is afraid that their spouse or significant other may be leaving them?

Similarly, what does a person see when he or she sees the sports car that their spouse/significant other has just bought, when they are in the midst of having economic difficulties?

And, ah yes, what does a woman or a man see when he or she sees their significant other/spouse with someone else?

Do Emotions play a part?

I mention these only, obviously,

to ask the question whether what we think that we see is, in fact somehow coloured by our emotional perceptions, thoughts and feelings?

I, of course, do not know the answer here, but would hasten to add that if I found out that everything that we do think that we “see” is, in fact, so coloured by our perception thereof, I do not think that I would find that very surprising.

Would you?

How about our Life Experiences?

At another level, is what we “see” also coloured, in part by our own indigenous life experiences?

By that I mean, for example, does an African-American person see the same thing as, let us say, a White Anglo-Saxon person from the South, for example (absolutely no value judgment intended, whatsoever; these are simply offered as examples)?

Does the former “see” the same thing as the latter when he or she “sees”—
a) a Ku Klux Klan flag;
b) an Affirmative Action program in work;
c) or some other new political initiative.

And what about The Hemisphere?

How about a similar inquiry into the religious hemisphere.

Does, for example, a Christian person, see the same thing as a Jewish person, or a Moslem person, or a Hindu person, for example, when they “see”—
a ) a Church;
b) the “Lord Ganeshji”; or
c) a woman in a short skirt?

I do not know.

Could they all be different?

Could, in fact, in all these cases, people actually “see” something totally different than what we think we “see”?

I am talking not just a different “perception” of a person, but, actually, physically, “seeing” something different because of who and what they are.

(This also “begs the question,” a little, of whether perception, itself, is reality and so even if we call it just having a “different” perception, then, the “Reality” thereof becomes, nonetheless different, as well, ipso facto. Not to even mention how the “thinking” aspect thereof is involved.)

The examples that one could posit are endless. (E.g., what does one who is terrified or afraid, for example, “see” when they “see”—
a) a dog;
b) a medical needle; or
c) a “commitment” relationship, as opposed to one who is not so terrified thereof?)

I find the whole area to be extremely fascinating and possible of interpretation in many differing ways, and up to many differing levels (e.g., Reason, Rationality, God, Faith, The Universe, Science, Biology, etc.)

I share this with you, my Dear Daughter, wondering what are your perceptions — and what do you think the answer(s) might be?

Love,

© 2017 Ashton Williams. All Rights Reserved.