Alanz Eyes

My reality

August 3rd, 2005 - Posted by Alan Howard

There are as many realities as there are people on earth. And more. For every living thing that perceives, it exists in a reality separate to anything else. My reality is different to yours, and your reality is different to mine. And the reality of an ant that narrowly avoids our feet as we unknowingly step on his brother, is completely different to that of the bee that flies around the flowers collecting whatever it is that bees collect.

My reality is different to that of a person living in Iraq, or traveling in London right now on a subway train.

My reality is of me, living in Wellington, New Zealand, working as a systems administrator in an IT support company. My reality is perceived through the eyes of one who has had experiences that no other person on this planet has had, because those experiences are personal to me.

I might have ridden a horse when I was a child, just like many other children. But they didn't ride the same horse, with the same people, with the same parents, in the same paddock, under the same clouds.

My reality is unique, just like everyone else's reality. So how do we claim to exist in the same reality?

I believe that while we exist in completely different realities, according to our individual perceptions, occasionally we share experiences with others, where our different realities come together and we share an experience.

As I travel to work on the bus, all the passengers are sharing the experience of riding on the bus. Most might be sitting, while some are standing. Someone might be sitting next to a large man who hasn't showered for a week, while someone else might be sitting opposite someone they think is beautiful, and wishing they could find something to talk about with them.

Everyone exists in a separate reality consists of shared experiences, where realities intersect.

So what the hell does this really mean?

Nothing. I just wanted to talk about my perception of reality.

Entry Filed under: Pre-2006