The veil of reality? Beyond convention?

Question

We have our 5 senses, we have modern science and technology. From these things we have created this perception of reality that is defined in terms of these. Yet is it possible that really our senses only show us what our brains evolved to show us?

Maybe reality as we know it and reality as it actually is are two different things? What if there are things out there that cannot be sensed directly by the human body or detected, measured or tested by current science?

Just an opinion based question, no right or wrong answer. But what do you think?

Is reality only as we see it? Or is there more beyond what we can scientifically understand?

Answer 1

In reality we only see, hear, smell, taste and touch a fragment of what is actually happening around us all the time, simply because if our brain could intake all the information from around it then it would probably frazzle and short circuit with sensory overload. it's not designed to show us every aspect of reality, what we observe falls nicely into place through our brains split second computations where it assigns probability to certain things around us such as the chair we sit on, the table in front of us, that sort of thing. Reality as it actually is would be the wave function, reality as we know it are the particles and atoms that make up all the stuff that surrounds us. In short, by the simple process of observing causes the wave function to collapse and the particle function to take the shapes that we know all because of our brains and senses.

Answer 2

Non-local reality is a fact.  

Answer 3

This is a question philosophers have wrestled with for centuries.  It's really the basic problem Descartes was dealing with when he came up with "I think, therefore I am":  How can we know that we're not just a brain in a vat, and what we think is "reality" is merely a complex computer program someone has plugged us into?  (The premise of the movie The Matrix wasn't all that original, after all, LOL!)   Your question (somewhat rephrased by me), "how do we know that how we perceive reality is really what reality is like?" is only a few steps removed from Descartes' question.  The answer is, of course, that the version of reality that our sense perceptions provide us is certainly unlike core reality.  The elements of reality that we _can_ detect are presented to our perceptual systems in a way relative to us, and in most (and probably all) cases certainly not fully accurate (and maybe not even marginally accurate) representations of underlying reality.  Just as long as our perceptions are accurate enough to keep us alive and functioning in a highly complex universe, they don't have to be (and probably aren't) any more accurate than that.  And there are certainly aspects of reality that our sense experiences never convey to us so, as far as human perception is concerned, they don't exist.  Examples are sounds in the range a bat can hear; colors in the ultraviolet and infrared ends of the spectrum that our eyes can't see; subatomic particles; etc.; true, we now know about some of these things because we have built instruments to detect them -- but there are no doubt things we have never built instruments to detect that nevertheless are there and therefore unknown to us.  So the main part of your question is very apt -- there may indeed be a whole universe full of things that we never notice, never build instruments to detect, never suspect to exist...because we can't see, hear, smell, taste, nor touch them, in fact, never so much as noticeably bump into them.

Answer 4

Each of us can only judge reality from our own perspective.  I can't see through your eyes, and you can see through mine.  We only arrive at the truth for ourselves.  All theories are possible, but proving them are beyond our abilities while we're here.

Answer 5

There's so much more out there that we can't even begin to understand.

When the "veil of maya" was dropped, everything that we term "paranormal was hidden from us.  The day will come when it's lifted and all will be revealed.  I'm looking forward to that day!  Scientists don't like to admit to things they can't understand so they dismiss it.

Answer 6

Science has not completely unraveled or unveiled the capabilities of the human brain and its complexities. If the human mind cannot be explained in its entirity - then I cannot agree that scientist have all the answers to the paranormal or in this case "Reality".

For the moment we can only rely on personal references or experiences and the manner by which we have been conditioned to learn.

As we grow and develop we rely on the permission of society to grow and expand. If we think beyond the perimeters -there is usually a consequence of some type which is usually negative.

Very primary example:

Humanity believed the earth was flat. It took someone to think and act beyond the perimeters of society to go out there and find the truth.

Sure there was great debate skepticism and all the wonderful things we humans do.But consider what had to go through the minds of the people who actually took that chance and jumped in the boat to find out otherwise?

Look how far we have come since then?

There is a lot out there - we just have to allow ourselves to be open to the possibilities and accept that our brains are capable of a lot more than we are conciously aware of.

Hi quick note: There is an excellent show on channel 121 on the History international station regarding parapsychology,mysticism -very neat it is on now. Bye

Answer 7

There are all sorts of lights, sounds, smells etc that other animals can detect but that humans can't, I suppose we haven't evolved to sense those things because we don't need to.

I guess there is more out there than we can currently detect or measure because science is always coming up with new things.

Maybe one day there will be ghost measuring machine to prove all the skeptics wrong.

Answer 8

I think you're right. I can touch, see and hear things most people say don't exist. I can't measure it scientifically, but I at least know it's there. Cause *I* can touch it. So I've learned over the last few years not to rule out anything. I know there is far more out there than we're aware of or that we can measure, though I do so wish we could.  So I tend to think exactly that--one person's reality may not necessarily be the truth.  

Answer 9

Yes I believe what you say.

Our brains are so complex and is influenced by all sorts of things.

Nature, nuture, power of suggestion, assumptions, electrical activity, man made and natural.

It might just be that autistic children might be so brillent that they see things others don't see. Their plane of existent might be way off of the average person.

I don't know that my X husband and myself lived in completely different reality.

Answer 10

Two interesting points:

1) In 400 years, science has still not explained how gravity works, yet it's commonly accepted because it can be demonstrated and calculated to exist. However, it's never been found to be true.

2) Science cannot yet see all of the mysteries of the universe (though we do have some fairly interesting ideas about how things work). We understand many of the rules, but not the exceptions.

With these in mind, just how much do you believe we really know about the nature of the universe, from a scientific point of view? Truly, we've barely scratched the surface in terms of knowledge, so how can we possibly reject something for which we are presented evidence without first examining the evidence at hand, even if it contravenes conventional thought?

We have to know what the truth is before we can blithely reject the unknown as false.

Answer 11

interesting question, star for you :) Well if you believe in some sort of matrix world i wouldn't be too suprised to find out that things were different outside of our perception, think we could easily be tricked into thinking somthing fake is real just as long as you could get the right chemicals to release in the brain, what if what we dream is true reality??

Answer 12

There are definitely things that we can't scientifically understand, because if we did understand every thing, we would be able to know exactly why we are here on this Earth and what we're here to do. It's true that we can only sense what our minds let us sense. For example, birds fly south because their minds have evolved in a way that makes it natural for them to do that. Reality is only as we see it, because we are made this way. That is a good question though, it does have me thinking...

Answer 13

I believe there is always more, but if we can not see, touch, smell, or in any way measure it, it has no real impact on our own reality.  When our science allows us to detect or measure something, then its effects can be known to us.  Until then, even if we are effected by something, our own reality will will not acknowledge it.

Answer 14

This is not about ghosts...but I just heard Stan Friedman say on a video that if there are aliens out there in space crafts...they might be on a different frequency than we are. He said it would be like us being on FM and them being on AM. I think it's kind of the same with spirits/ghosts. If scientist would really get involved with these things...maybe someday we can figure it out. But they won't bother with it...so we have no one to help us. We've just got each other! HEY! Maybe some believers will become scientists and come back and help us!!

Answer 15

God, what a great question! I have not the faintest clue.

I know you know about History so maybe you can understand my question, many do not.

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