|
|
Real Objects
|
|
|
ObjectiveAn object is real if it is possible to have interactions with it, if it is perceivable, and if I see other people reporting similar experiences when they are in contact with similar objects. My sight upon real things is restricted, as if it were the narrow frequency band of visible light, somewhere in the middle of the electro-magnetic radiation spectrum... Furthermore, each object should have a mental representation to ever become conscious; first as a symbol - a collection of features and affect spread over time and space; then possibly labeled with a word - the pointer to the symbol. SubjectiveAnalytically speaking, it is very difficult to define real things. When I get a stone on my face, I really will be aware of the reality of that object. But, when the stone is fake, say something made of polystyrene foam, I will be aware of that too, but the experience will be confusing at the same time, certainly when I first thought it was the real stuff going to hit me. When I just saw a film about sea anemones,
the first picture on the left could bring them back into my mind - with a little bit of imagination. When, on the other hand, I just inspected the ins and outs of an organ, I certainly would know that I see a picture of organ pipes here. Everything depends on the previous experience I had. My personal direct experience from a moment ago (priming), or the whole of my memory traces collected in my brain, neatly ordered in categories or thrown on a heap in a jumble... How things look like depends completely on the thing itself and the reference frame of the observer. On having a closer into the world of objects, with a strong microscope for example, or with a well established theory corresponding with most of what we see, then completely other things emerge. The Atomium-like read balls under left represents a piece of iron. A very small one indeed. But, if you were very small, it would be possible to walk freely in between of the construction - more than place enough. When you want to get insight into things, you should have a very close look, together with the ordinary point of view, and then take quite a step backward, to oversee the larger whole
When you are walking through the stars, just like we are supposed to do, you could imagine that a far away observer looking at the surface of the universe, would experience your walkabout as being very strange as well. Say, a giant looks at his kids playing with marbles, and our cosmos is just one of them, how could it then be imaginable that inside that solid looking ball little guys are wandering about... Perhaps we have to investigate perception itself to understand something of the exterior world, and unravel the mysteries of words and symbols describing it...
|
|
A. Syberg, Belgium
Copyright © 2005 A. Syberg
|
