what is reality?

[SWM]

what is reality?

i have some complex thoughts around reality. not so much what reality is but how it is.

i wanted to throw this question to see what are other peoples thoughts about reality. how do you know your experiences are real? what is real?

[norma]

Real?    To me and since as far as I know in my thinking I am right   Real, is what you believe.. At that moment in time.   Real can change, or not,  that is what I believe. 

If I misunderstood sorry

[eliteshilpa1988]

reality for me is everything what you can feel..
relity is wat u can believe on... things happening around u are real as far as you can feel them to be true..

 

[SWM]

hiya norma,

Real?    To me and since as far as I know in my thinking I am right   Real, is what you believe.. At that moment in time.   Real can change, or not,  that is what I believe. 

If I misunderstood sorry

i dont think you misunderstood. but i think it is a complicated concept. it is one of those things that becomes more obscure the more you study. a bit like consciousness. what actually is it?

anyway, your answer takes us to a fundamental problem with trying to understand reality.
if it is real to you, does that make it real for other people? if not then is it real at all?

for example. real is what you believe. if you believe in fairies and you have seen them with your own eyes you could say they are real. yes?

but i on the other hand, i have never seen a fairy and i dont believe they exist.

so on this scenario are fairies real or not real?

[SWM]

hi shilpa,

reality for me is everything what you can feel..
relity is wat u can believe on... things happening around u are real as far as you can feel them to be true..

 

again this answer takes us to the same fundamental problem with understanding reality. norma gave a subjective starting point and you give us an objective starting point but both lead to the same problem.

to illustrate;
you have been living with a friend for two years, sharing a home, you dont see a great deal of each other but you have regular contact. now during conversation with your family you are talking about the friend that you share a house with and your family replies that you have lived alone for two years. you try to find evidence of your friend but there is nothing concrete that can prove his existence. next time you see your friend you confront him and he laughs it off.

is your friend real or not real?

[norma]

hiya norma,
i dont think you misunderstood. but i think it is a complicated concept. it is one of those things that becomes more obscure the more you study. a bit like consciousness. what actually is it?

anyway, your answer takes us to a fundamental problem with trying to understand reality.
if it is real to you, does that make it real for other people? if not then is it real at all?

for example. real is what you believe. if you believe in fairies and you have seen them with your own eyes you could say they are real. yes?

but i on the other hand, i have never seen a fairy and i dont believe they exist.

so on this scenario are fairies real or not real?

Stan, As far as I go, if you believe and have seen fairies, you believe and rightly so.  taking that to another level.  You have seen and believe in the good works of someone everyone else is demeaning.    Now what???     Me I would defend and speak out for my "someone" would you?   If you don't do you still believe?

Seriously isn't this what discussion is based on?     

I am sure this is simplistic but I have always wondered.....

[Kpsymom]

to illustrate;
you have been living with a friend for two years, sharing a home, you dont see a great deal of each other but you have regular contact. now during conversation with your family you are talking about the friend that you share a house with and your family replies that you have lived alone for two years. you try to find evidence of your friend but there is nothing concrete that can prove his existence. next time you see your friend you confront him and he laughs it off.

is your friend real or not real?

NOT REAL. The problem is, all of this can only be opinions. The definition of “reality” would actually support this friend being “real”.  The problem is, we don’t have any standards as to how many people, of what frame of mind, must be able to see or comprehend something in order for it to be considered part of reality.  Most people tend to live within their own reality, and live within the belief that “Its real to me, therefore it is real” (bordering on the topic of religion here).  But if that was me in your story, I’d be running to the psychologists office. If I can not find evidence to support something, then TO ME it is not real.

[S. Earl Martin]

What is reality? Reality can be measured using what you know. What you think you know. What don't know and what you can't know. Any situation real or hypotethetical can be measured using these criteria. Thus giving you the ability to conduct a quantatative measurment.

[SWM]

thats an interesting perspective, how do you apply those criteria?

[S. Earl Martin]

I have been working on a text for some time that attempts to put reality in formulas. The plan is to first write the basic text. Which I have done. Then design courses and put the courses on computer. Almost done. After this modify the courses so that a computer can take the courses and this should give the computer a standard of measurement. If the computer has a reference of what it knows or it's reality. This possibly could give it a sense of self or cognizance. At least that's the plan. To answer your question. A person measures their reality from their experiences and lack of experiences. A banker measures their reality from a bankers perspective. Further the banker must know what it takes to be a banker. If not they are prone to make unnecessary errors. I have found that keeping these four things straight in my mind allows me to be the most aware and honest. To avoid many errors and to deduce valuble information. Sometimes I have thought I know something then realized I just thought I knew it. This has allowed me to rethink information and make break thru's that I might not have acheived. 

[Anatoly]

Thinking  as  a philosopher of some sort   and beeing a creative person also, I allow the existence of 2 realities.

The first reality (objective)- is that, much the same for everyone (that is we all live on Earth, The big world full of joy and sorrow (for someone only joys or sorrows)
The second reality is ellusive one!!, I mean that we create it  by ourselves in our mind!  Someone don't need it in case he lives in harmony with  the real world (or to busy)))
Personally I turn on my second reality when the real world annoys me! And it works, making me happier. By the way computer games is another  reality (but I don't think one should stay there too long!!!)

[Fender]

Love this topic. I believe reality is the way we as human beings experience the world around us. Everyone perceives things differently in the world, so who can truly say what is real and what is hypothetical? I think reality is based on whatever one believes to be real. As it was already mentioned, what I see and call real may not be seen as real by others. So is reality a state of mind, personal opinion of the world, or a physical thing?

[Balmung6]

what is reality?

i have some complex thoughts around reality. not so much what reality is but how it is.

i wanted to throw this question to see what are other peoples thoughts about reality. how do you know your experiences are real? what is real?

Basically, what is real? -smiles- Alot of people probably had this thought after watching the first Matrix movie.
It's very complex, but if you want a short version, try this - if all 5 of your senses can experience it, and someone else's 5 senses can too, it's probably real.

[Dr. Nathanial]

Frankly speaking, most of you will think that I am joking...

I am totally lost after reading all the post and comments upon it. Now in simple words please tell me what the reality really is....

[S. Earl Martin]

Defineing Reality in simple terms is quite a task. What reality is depends on your perspective. Or what you believe to be true. Humans have a very limited amount of information that they can actually know. So processing this information into a belief structure that we believe to be real is an ever changing process. As I stated before I use. What you know. What you think you know. What you don't know and what you can't know. This allows for a quantative measurement. Anything that can be measured can be influenced or controled. Our mind has the ability to believe whatever we chose too. Even if evidence to the contrary is right there. We can just chose to ignore it. So reality is an illusion at best. What is truth? What is tangable. These things are all defined by individual and clutural parameters.

[Enigma]

you have been living with a friend for two years, sharing a home, you dont see a great deal of each other but you have regular contact. now during conversation with your family you are talking about the friend that you share a house with and your family replies that you have lived alone for two years. you try to find evidence of your friend but there is nothing concrete that can prove his existence. next time you see your friend you confront him and he laughs it off.

is your friend real or not real?

Interesting.  I'd say that it depends. If you just haven't told your parents about the shady ass person you live with and the friend turns out to be a living, breathing human being, then the friend is real and exists in reality.  I'd define reality as anything physically manifested in this world.  If the friend is a result of a delusion or hallucination or from a mental illness then I'm inclined to say the friend is not real.  Though that doesn't necessarily mean the friend doesn't exist in reality.  What makes up a thought?  Does a thought have weight?  Aren't thoughts just biochemical reactions in the brain?  Those biochemicals must have a weight, so those thoughts exist in reality.  The friend themself does not exist as a living, breathing human being, but an image of the friend exists in reality.

[Dom]

It's interesting cause you starting taking in what is in front of you and with this idea you start really looking hard as to what is really in front of you.....

I believe that reality is what make of it you are in control of how you view your world whether what is real or not.

This answer goes around and around has no specific point but it touches on the question "What is reality?" on a more broad spectrum.

[Enigma]

Does reality differ from person to person?   Or do we all exist in the same reality?

[S. Earl Martin]

Does reality differ from person to person? Some people believe that reality and truth are constant and are the same for everyone. That is more of a philosophical question, but I believe that if a person or person's believe something and act on it it gives it a form of truth in a way. Just because their actions are true and real so it creates a belief that has a life apart from the untruth. This is different from concious deception. A lie told a thousand times even if people believe it is still a lie. Studies have been done about memory and the power of suggestion etc. After an event has occured we can not go back and relive it again. Even recordings and records can be altered or be deceptive. We all do not exsist in the same reality in a real sense. Because our enviornments are different. A bushman in a jungle would precieve reality differently from an urban city dweller. Of course we all are subject to the same natural laws and physical limitations. So it depends on what scale of measurment we are using to define reality. That is why I use the 4 criteria I use. 

[S. Earl Martin]

Some other thoughts about reality. Say you are in a place you are familar with. There are several rooms. As you move from room to room you have a sense / memory of the other rooms you were in. Are they still part of your reality? In what way? Say you remember that you left an object in a certain place. In your mind the object is still there, but how do you know? Say someone moved it or you remember it wrong. So your reality was false. Not sure what my point is yet. False reality verses true reality I guess! Maybe this is why I lost my keys. LOL!

[Anatoly]

REALITY IS A PUZZLE, like a cube. In the example with the keys they disappear, means the cube puzzle rotetes. In general Mass Media do the same to "hit" our reality on tv radio and so on ..
They change something and our reality changes/But in the end your brain solves that puzzle, it chooses, trying to analize what to believe or not, If the keys have gone you may choose: they are stolen or u forget where you put it or something else. REALITY IS A PUZZLE!!

[S. Earl Martin]

Good point! Trying to discribe reality is like trying to catch the wind. It is constantly moving and changing so we may be able to grasp a small part of it, but most of it is beyond our reach or comprehention. I like the cube anology.

[SWM]

Interesting.  I'd say that it depends. If you just haven't told your parents about the shady ass person you live with and the friend turns out to be a living, breathing human being, then the friend is real and exists in reality.  I'd define reality as anything physically manifested in this world.  If the friend is a result of a delusion or hallucination or from a mental illness then I'm inclined to say the friend is not real.  Though that doesn't necessarily mean the friend doesn't exist in reality.  What makes up a thought?  Does a thought have weight?  Aren't thoughts just biochemical reactions in the brain?  Those biochemicals must have a weight, so those thoughts exist in reality.  The friend themself does not exist as a living, breathing human being, but an image of the friend exists in reality.

Does reality differ from person to person?   Or do we all exist in the same reality?

Enigma i think you have got to the point i was hoping to make when i started this thread.




an individual can experience many strange and wonderful things which for that individual has an objective existence yet for other people are classifed as halluciantions or delusions. you can look at an object infront of you and claim that it has existence, but somebody may see an object in front of them that you do not see, or what about hearing a voice that nobody else hears, does that object or the voice exist or not? is it possible that the voice exists but one individual does not have the ability to hear it and the other indvidual does have the ability to hear it.

everything that is "out there" is experienced in the mind, "in here". is it possible to claim that there is a reality which exists "out there", seperate from the minds of individuals that interact with it.

when we remember that modern phsyics is recogising the impact of the observer on the observed. what does this tell us about the realities that we live in.  can one observe reality without effecting it. can our beliefs alter the perspective from which we observe reality and what influence might such obseravtions have on the reality.

[S. Earl Martin]

I agree it is kinda like catching a wild animal and observing it. It is not the same as when it was in the wild. Or even if you are hiding in the wild and watching it. The animal might sense your presense and react differently. I have a bird sanctuary in my yard. I can sit in my living room and watch the birds. When they can't see me they react differently than when I am in the yard. Even though I have never done anything threatening to them they still react to my presence. When my cat would set in the window and watch them they would get very excited. Even though he was 75 feet away. A lot of things can influence behavior. Even on a subconcious level. Even noises and smells that we may not even realize are there can effect things. Memories or past experiences. Upbringing and culture. This is why I use what I know etc. 

[oujdaboy]

For philosophers of antiquity, the reality is manifest in two worlds: the world of essences, and the sensory world.
The reality of the world species is particularly the field of metaphysics and religions.
For Plato, we must look beyond the sensitive, fleeting and changing things, to enter the world of ideas, which builds everything in the world sensitive, and allows knowledge. The appearance is a significant form of illusion, in any case of imperfection of the perfect archetype. But Kant, believes that the reality for man is nothing other than that it appears, its manifestation sensitive and is therefore of order phenomenal. So because of this dissociation, reality is not the truth.

[seekinghga]

The question of "what is reality?" is subject to the question "what is truth?".  Truth is a relative term.  Anyone who says that their concept of reality is "more true" than another person's is suffering delusion.  Even to say that there is only one eternal truth denotes schism.  I would say that reality is what it is to the individual (me sharing my own delusions for the sake of communication).

[seekinghga]

To answer the question contextually proper:

Reality is existence and existence is the sum of all we think, feel, do, and know.

[Xen]

Perhaps reality is a set "path", with additional interpretations along the way. as human beings, as well as anything else in the universe at the current moment, things and events of a general nature follow along to be the same for everyone (a car crashes, people see it, its reported on the news, and generally accepted as real and an occurred event for everyone and thing). as such, we have a kind of set way things proceed in. however, reality as a term is what we as humans would define as our perception of things, including religious beliefs, availability of information, and personality (the ability to accept events as true). so "reality" for one person could be, "he died in a car crash, and the paramedics carried him away, the time was 2:45, and it was a sunny summer day". however, a person of faith can completely reinterpret the same situation, i.e. "the man was driving his car, and obviously his time had come. his death was preordained by god. and as such, upon his death, i witnessed the clouds open up, and bright holy rays engulfed the body, as his soul was delivered unto heaven". now, taking this theory in mind, it would be next to impossible, for a human at least, to witness true reality. their views and limited knowledge of the event, as well as any other events occurring simultaneously and how they affect each other and the world, would dash aside any possibility of human realization, nirvana shall we say. as such, reality is the way the universe runs. and to humans in general, reality is simply their interpretation of it. now as for reality being changable, that involves the possibility of fate, time alteration or flux, etc. but this would just be my effort of simplifying my views on the single subject of reality. thoughts? 

[seekinghga]

Perhaps reality is a set "path", with additional interpretations along the way.

That sounds awfully similar to the fatalist approach; a fixed outcome for the destiny of the universe.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatalism

as human beings, as well as anything else in the universe at the current moment, things and events of a general nature follow along to be the same for everyone (a car crashes, people see it, its reported on the news, and generally accepted as real and an occurred event for everyone and thing). as such, we have a kind of set way things proceed in. however, reality as a term is what we as humans would define as our perception of things, including religious beliefs, availability of information, and personality (the ability to accept events as true). so "reality" for one person could be, "he died in a car crash, and the paramedics carried him away, the time was 2:45, and it was a sunny summer day". however, a person of faith can completely reinterpret the same situation, i.e. "the man was driving his car, and obviously his time had come. his death was preordained by god. and as such, upon his death, i witnessed the clouds open up, and bright holy rays engulfed the body, as his soul was delivered unto heaven". now, taking this theory in mind, it would be next to impossible, for a human at least, to witness true reality. their views and limited knowledge of the event, as well as any other events occurring simultaneously and how they affect each other and the world, would dash aside any possibility of human realization,

I agree emphatically with this relativity which you emphasize Xen.  I believe a quote from Ankh-af-na-Khonsu explains my view of it rather nicely:
"In our present stage, the object that you see is never the same as the one that I see; we infer that it is the same because your experience tallies with mine on so many points that the actual differences of our observation are negligible. For instance, if a friend is walking between us, you see only his left side, I his right; but we agree that it is the same man, although we may differ not only as to what we may see of his body but as to what we know of his qualities. This conviction of identity grows stronger as we see him more often and get to know him better. Yet all the time neither of us can know anything of him at all beyond the total impression made on our respective minds."

nirvana shall we say.

Nirvana short-circuits reality in a way.  (A very shallow view of this topic on my part.)

as such, reality is the way the universe runs.

Reality depends on awareness.  So long as there is awareness there can be - and, pragmatically speaking, is - reality.  See my post above [4-12-09 6:10:45pm EST].

and to humans in general, reality is simply their interpretation of it.

Exactly.

now as for reality being changable, that involves the possibility of fate, time alteration or flux, etc. but this would just be my effort of simplifying my views on the single subject of reality. thoughts? 

I personally like to think that humans are capable of free will.  But to argue free will against fatalism is to argue whether a glass is half full or half empty.  Tetris anyone?

[Xen]

thanks for your input Seekinghga, i appreciate it very much.
first i would like to apologize, i understand, rereading, how i seem deemed a fatalist. however i am no such thing 
i instead prefer a mix of free will and the "path" of our impossible to see reality, which, is possibly influential and not set as per fatalist views. reality as thus is a collective, of awareness, and possibly a sense of wordly events, which i do believe can be influenced (to clarify). so i suppose my initial statement was misleading...
also, the term nirvana i did use rather lightly and improperly, again i must apologize. (although i must defend myself that i got called into work on a whim before i could fully proofread my post lol)
i also agree upon the belief of humans having free will, i am not religious or affixed to any beliefs so to speak, thusly i like to think that we are all on an equal level with awareness creating our realities, and our realities being our own. not the subject of some divine decision. this also ties in with the possibility of altering the future as we go about our lives.
i love the quote by the way, it works quite suitably.