How much do our perceptions affect our reality?

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One of my favorite questions to ponder. Have at it ye good mentalists.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Shroedinger's Cat to thread.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

everything is just zeros and ones, are you a zero or are you a one?

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Can't be bothered looking it up, but Shakespeare said something like "Nothing is good or bad but thinking makes it so."

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Someone's been toking up at lunch again, hasn't he?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 20:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Of course there's the "green" vs. "light wave-forms that our eye/mind-system interpret as 'green'" aspect to this whole thing, but I was also thinking mainly about self-image's-effect-on-events, like how much our perceptions-of-self affect our unfolding-reality.

xpost ha ha not quite Chris although that would be nice (once back in the day [17 yrs old] I realized it would be okay for to smoke ganj cuz A) my memory was already shit, and B) I was already mental

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

I decided I didn't have to smoke pot because a) I already am to fascinated by unimportant shit and b) I already have the munchies all the time.

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

much

― Mr Noodles (Mr Noodles), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

I am paranoid and self-involved.

― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Also I have this giant claw for a hand, so who needs acid?

― Casuistry (Chris P), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

This is why I need to get my glasses changed every so often. They keep coloring rose.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I drank a lot of Yeagermeister (sp?) the other night and I swear I was thinking what everyone was saying a few moments before they said it, and I was able to tell people what they were thinking about.

― A Nairn (moretap), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-one years ago)

haha Chuck Yeagermeister

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

breaking the liquor barrier

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:13 (twenty-one years ago)

while in the Navy, he was known as "Chug" Yaegermeister.

― Kingfish (Kingfish), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I keep affirming I'm a realist, but the fairies emerge from my musings every so often, trying to make a liar out of me.

"Reality" is an elastic term, as there are enough mad people on Bellevue swearing they know what it means.

― Nichole Graham (Nichole Graham), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 22:45 (twenty-one years ago)

Subjective perceptions of reality wholly governed by language, etcetera.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

I suppose our perceptions can affect our reality quite potently, for it is in what you're used to thinking and feeling and how you're used to viewing the world that affects what your ideas of what gets perceived as "truth" and thusly what kind of world is the "real world". This, of course, means that we all might possibly have different viewpoints of what "reality" is and what we view to be "true" and thus might clear up a lot of why any two of us might have a problem seeing eye to eye on a particular issue or event.

*scratches head* Or something like that.

― Many Coloured Halo (Dee the Lurker), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

It's called 'subjectivity'.

― Nick Southall (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 4 November 2003 23:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey Nick, you might be interested in the book I'm currently reading then. It's pretty good so far, but I've really only started:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1582340579.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Hey Nickalicious, you might be interested in the book I'm currently reading then. It's pretty good so far, but I've really only started:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/1582340579.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Erm... (HSA to thread) ...in many ways, our perceptions *are* our reality. Been reading a lot of Gombrich and other psychology of illusions books lately (well, cause HSA is obsessed and keeps leaving them around the flat) and the most astonishing thing is not that illusions exist, but how MUCH of our every day perceiving is actually illusion - our vision is primarily the result of guesses that usually turn out to be right. The eye filters out useful spectrums, and guestimates the general patterns of shape and light into things that are familiar and therefore likely to be.

I don't think the question is, "how much do our perceptions affect our reality" but "is there actually a reality beyond our perceptions?"

But it's a bit too early in the morning to go any further...

― kate (kate), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 08:58 (twenty-one years ago)

HI DERE

― Amazing Randy (Amazing Randy), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you have something more to say?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Do you have to say that after every Amazing Randy post? he's the Amazing Randy. That's what he does.

― kate (kate), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Kinda boring party trick.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:22 (twenty-one years ago)

boring and annoying. bornnoying.

― oops (Oops), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:23 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought I'd wear him off, but if that's all he does, no use bothering.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:23 (twenty-one years ago)

And I was getting all excited cause I thought people were going to start talking about perceptions and reality.

We are not amused!

― kate (kate), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 10:24 (twenty-one years ago)

How can perception not affect individual reality? There are more than a few racist people out there; in their perception, what they're thinking is dead right. They really believe people of other races are inferior/evil/whatever. It's real to them. This is 'perception' that is beyond merely sensual (which is probably as accurate as we need it to be)... and I guess the proof of the innate superiority of most other species is that they're not burdened with it. (Plus the fact that they're happy to live with their lot, rather than inventing all kinds of convolted junk to make simple existence more diverting. I write this sitting at the keyboard of a piece of convoluted junk.)

(I'm coming back as something wild and furry, natch.)

― ChrissieH (chrissie1068), Wednesday, 5 November 2003 13:26 (twenty-one years ago)

four months pass...

nickalicious - for an answer to your question, research arguments for and against solipsism.

― george, Friday, 2 April 2004 15:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Erm... (HSA to thread) ...in many ways, our perceptions *are* our reality.

Rats. That's what I was going to say.

And B., I miss the amazing r@ndy.

― Skottie, Saturday, 3 April 2004 01:44 (twenty-one years ago)

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