Reality (General)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Sunday, August 11, 2019, 07:31 (1930 days ago) @ dhw

DHW (Perception is a subjective process and we cannot know what constitutes objective reality) that does not mean there is no such thing as objective reality: it simply means that we can never be sure that our perception of something corresponds to that reality.

This statement feels off to me...not wrong necessarily, just incomplete, and I'd like to pick this apart a bit before I tackle the other. I work through it as I write, though, which is why my arguments seem a bit....fuzzy sometimes.

Agreed - Perception is a subjective process.
Agreed - There is such a thing as objective reality.
Agreed - We can never be sure that our perception agrees with objective reality. (Being partially color-blind and aware of it, this is consciously embodied in my every day life.)

And this is where it feels incomplete. We can never be 100% certain that our perception agrees with objective reality or any other perceived reality. This would mean that objective reality and perceived reality are separate AND unequally valid realities. Objective reality differs in the fact that it can operate absent OUR mind, which means that the mind behind it is on a different, higher in terms of complexity, level of existence. It is different in degree and magnitude but NOT by type.

We know that the structure of the brain and the universe are very similar. We know that they both have complex physical structures of deeply complex relationships and nested hierarchies of scale and influence.

Universe > Galaxy > Solar System > Planet > Geological Scale > Human Scale > Cell > Molecule > Atom > Sub-Atomic Particles.

Body > Brain > Hemisphere > Region > Neuron/Synapses > Cell Bodies >

I am certain I am missing some scales and this is a gross oversimplification. Feel free to add/reclassify. The interesting thing is that these nested structures exist both internal and external to what we would classify as living creatures AND in non-living system. It is also interesting that the relationship structure is bi-directional. Each structure spreads influence up and down the chain. This, of course, suggest communication up and down the chain.

In molecular biology, we see this in chemical and electrical signaling between cells. In the physical world, we see this in terms of energy and motion, but, and here is the point, we never look at it in terms of communication. What is being communicated, and is it being communicated in a language we can comprehend? If we could comprehend it, could we communicate with it?

Despite what you might think, this is not a call for God. But rather, a call to look at the similarities between the systems and see if any avenues for research could be inferred.

--
What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.