danae

Topic: LONG ENTRY...mostly about Perception, Reality, and Truth

I was not able to get to anyone’s blogger for almost 2 days this week. It was very frustrating. He wrote a blog entry that I, of course, became little girl and begged Daddy to cut and paste it for me, so I had a chance to read it. But other blogger's I read I could not get to also.....so I was pouting. I know it was not a blogger issue as He was able to get to mine with no problem. Blogger ate my archives again. So....November and December 2002 will be showing up on my tripod site soon.

I shared a conversation I had back in October with Him last a few mornings ago. It was about implied promises. I shared the conversation with him as I thought it would help explain a lot of how I feel about the person involved in the conversation with me.

After he read it, he said when you bring your car into get it fixed...there are implied promise that they will fix your car. He got it. : ) I like that he understands what I meant. It was exactly true. I felt the person that I had that convo with had given me implied promises of the future. He said we could go on and on about this idea of implied promises but at that time He needed to get to work.

So that conversation leads me to...an email I got several weeks ago. It is not related to the topic of implied promises but oh well...I understand why I can go from that topic to this next one.

I got an email a several weeks ago after I wrote something in my journal. The email basically said that I was not being “truthful” about what I said in that entry...I gave it a quick thought and went...hmmm maybe she is right. But really did not give it a lot of thought as it was my journal and I say what I think and feel at the time - most of the time. I started thinking about it after the person and I chatted online. And being Sherlock Holmes girl...I went through my archives and found out that I actually had been online way more then I thought. There were a definite 4 weeks of when I was not online as much 2 of which were when I was in Detroit seeing j and then the last 2 when I was in Minneapolis seeing my parents. But even at both places I was able to check my email and at my parents I did have yahoo messenger on. So, I did the whole time have ways to be contacted if contact was wanted.

So I have been talking to Him about what is the truth...who is right and wrong. And He believes we both are to an extent and believes it is perception. That email and im though spawned a discussion between Him and I about perception being reality.

It was a really good conversation.

What started it was me asking this...

What I see and believe to me can be true. Just because someone else does not see it....does not mean it is not true right? Or am I wrong?

He used the analogy of faith. He said, “What is faith? It is a personally held belief in a truth. When others of a different faith preach a different truth they may coincide (i.e the various forms of Christianity for instance) or they may collide: Christianity vs. Islam. Does that mean one belief is better or more "knowing" than the other?? I don't think that way because it's personal.”

So to me that is perception...Christians have the perception their faith is “it” and others of different faiths feel theirs is “it.”

So is the perception the truth? Because then in this instance there are more then one beliefs that are true.

The debate why perception is reality continues.

He says, “How can you experience reality without perception?? Using the definition quoted from dictionary.com: per•cep•tion ( P ) pronunciation Key (pr-spshn) n. The process, act, or faculty of perceiving. The effect or product of perceiving. Psychology. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory. The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected. Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving. The capacity for such insight. If you are devoid of perception -- how do you experience reality??”

I agree with that.

I brought up the conversation again yesterday as I told Him I was going to write about it in my blogger. I also think about my motivations behind some posts because...this does contain some personal conversation. But as I have said in the past if I am hanging on to something I guess I feel I need to get it out and so this is the place to do it...since it is my journal that I write for me.

We continued the perception is reality conversation yesterday...

Here is the conversation:
Him: the phone is ringing -- that's what you
perceive... Is it real??
me: yes....
Him: do you see it ringing??
me: well on this phone yes...it lights up...
me: as well as ringing
Him: so your perceptions can hear and see that the phone rings.
me: yes Him
Him: If you're not in the same room as the phone -- you hear the phone ringing -- are you sure it's not coming from the TV??
me: lol okay true I guess it could be the TV but....usually I have found that my phone sounds differently then...the on the TV only time that was different is with my cell phone lol where I thought I was ringing and it was on TV
Him: exactly...
Him: you perceived that your phone was ringing.
Him: your reality said "answer the phone – your phone is ringing"
Him: then
Him: you saw that it was a phone on TV and not your phone. Your reality changed because you perceived that "oh wait - the phone is on TV, not my phone"
me: okay but to me that is saying I perceived the phone was ringing but reality said it was not. So perception is not reality
Him: *laughs* the truth and reality was that your phone was not ringing... your perception of the event was inaccurate until you discovered that the phone was ringing on TV.
me: okay but that still says to me that perception is not reality
Him: it still is reality -- because you relied on your perception to interpret events (in this case, the phone ringing) and were going to act upon it had you not perceived that it was on TV and was not your
phone.
me: hmmmm okay
Him: see
Him: Our perceptions change constantly -- its how we react to what's going on.
Him: When we drive down the road -- there are over 200 possible perception changes that our minds comprehend...
Him: One or several can change how we react to a given circumstance.
Him: We perceive based on input but also through experience...
Him: "if there's a cat on the side of the road, experience tells us that it can dart out in front of us while we're driving."
Him: we react to the cat based on our perception and experience and knowledge.
Him: It doesn't mean that every single time I drive down the road -- the cat is going to run out in front of me -- but I perceive that it could and hence I react accordingly.

I know that...I look back at places in my life where my perception was my reality. Is that justification? No, it is not. There is a difference.

I was given a quote...by Issac Bonewit. This is a quote about The Law of Personal Universes. “Every sentient being lives in and quite possibly creates a unique universe which can never be 100% identical to that lived in by another. So-called “reality” is a matter of consensus opinions. There is no single “reality" that exists whether people like it or not – that odd idea is popular due to the monotheistic theologies and the Scientism they spawned – instead there are multiple and frequently contradictory realities all existing simultaneously.”

I basically agree with that...

I do know that I really pretty much believe that my perceptions are my reality. And I am happy that I do... I know if I did not accept that…I would constantly remain in a state of flux and I might always be confused, over-examining, and analyzing to the point of shut down. *grin* oh is that how things are? Well it might be how things are...but it is my perception, my life and my reality.