Philosophy 101 #2 - Reality and Creation
I've been thinking about this, and perhaps the only thing that is real is thought itself. But that raises the question of why it is soo hard for us to change things here by thought alone. Maybe something we perceive is less flexible and open to change, the more people believe it is a particular way. So if everyone believes the sky is blue, for example, then it is very hard for anyone to percieve it as otherwise. Ergo, majority rules and the sky is blue. So the more people believe one particular thing, perhaps its harder to influence a change in that belief. A good analogy might be a tug of war, except with our perceptions.
I was discussing this the other day with a close friend. It was the idea, that science these days seems to involve someone hypothesising the existence of something. Amazingly enough they discover this. Since small things are generally harder to perceive, even one persons dogged belief in something may be able to create it. I can give an example of this in particle physics where a scientist predicts the existence of some obscure particle with exotic properties. More often than not, shortly after this it is discovered. Another triumph of science over the mindless masses. But what if the scientists desire to find it, is what actually gave the particle reality in the first place? Now there are three states of belief: belief, disbelief, and ignorance. Since very few people actually can even conceptualize the particles existence, then there is very little "pull" on the disbelief side of the rope. Belief wins by default.
So theoretically, magic is and was real so long as enough people continue to believe in it. Effectively... anything can be real enough if enough people believe in it, rather than disbelieving. It makes me think that the best place to fix the world is indeed by encouraging people to question their reality, start asking why things are as they seem, and also to encourage the creation of new things, new thoughts and new ideas. Maybe Einstein was on to something when he said "Imagination is more important than knowledge". Learning is about discovery of new ideas and concepts and when we have a genuinely new idea, we create something special, something magical - that is why creative pursuits make us feel so absolutely positively alive.
April.
I was discussing this the other day with a close friend. It was the idea, that science these days seems to involve someone hypothesising the existence of something. Amazingly enough they discover this. Since small things are generally harder to perceive, even one persons dogged belief in something may be able to create it. I can give an example of this in particle physics where a scientist predicts the existence of some obscure particle with exotic properties. More often than not, shortly after this it is discovered. Another triumph of science over the mindless masses. But what if the scientists desire to find it, is what actually gave the particle reality in the first place? Now there are three states of belief: belief, disbelief, and ignorance. Since very few people actually can even conceptualize the particles existence, then there is very little "pull" on the disbelief side of the rope. Belief wins by default.
So theoretically, magic is and was real so long as enough people continue to believe in it. Effectively... anything can be real enough if enough people believe in it, rather than disbelieving. It makes me think that the best place to fix the world is indeed by encouraging people to question their reality, start asking why things are as they seem, and also to encourage the creation of new things, new thoughts and new ideas. Maybe Einstein was on to something when he said "Imagination is more important than knowledge". Learning is about discovery of new ideas and concepts and when we have a genuinely new idea, we create something special, something magical - that is why creative pursuits make us feel so absolutely positively alive.
April.