What Is Reality???

The definition of reality is almost as vague and inconclusive as our concepts of it. For example, the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines reality as follows:


1 : the quality or state of being real
2 a (1) : a real event, entity, or state of affairs (2) : the totality of real things and events b : something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily
- in reality : in actual fact

So I looked up the definition of the word real.

1 : of or relating to fixed, permanent, or immovable things (as lands or tenements)
2 a : not artificial, fraudulent, illusory, or apparent

However, if we go by the definitions our language gives us, we end up with an immensely limited concept. Reality accepted as thus, means that what gets excluded from the realm of the 'real' are most of the values, ideals and concepts that are seemingly the most vital to a satisfactory existence (at least for us philosophical folk). The things that impact us the most and affect our lives the deepest are the abstract (and not solid or concrete and thus not real by definition) Spirituality, dreams and aspirations, ideas, love, friendship, intuition, wisdom/knowledge, introspection, etc., are such concepts.

So does this mean they are not 'real'?

Our intutions and our common sense tell us they ARE real, (we ARE processing an experience) but perhaps on a different level of so-called reality. Perhaps experiences that cannot be validated externally are NOT illusion, but merely an experience of a different reality.

Our brains have no means of distinguishing perceptual reality from any other reality. Or am I mistaken?

I remember dropping acid one night in my younger years and seeing this ENORMOUS moth sitting on the ledge of a store window in Thunder Bay. Whether or not it was 'concrete', my brain remembers it as such. To my brain, the moth was indeed real. I will never know if it was 'real' or not. But then again, most memories seem to have this flavour. And we've all had dreams so vivid and so 'real', that it affects our entire outlook for the next day.

If the brain remembers it as real and interprets something as such, then what is the difference if it actually happened or not? And what's the difference if a perceived object or occurence is seen in a different way than others do? Who is to say which is the 'real' reality?

Schizophrenics are told that they have a 'false sense of reality'. In fact, their perceptions of reality appear to be quite different from ours. But my perception of reality also probably differs from yours, from theirs...so who's to say which of us are perceiving the 'correct' reality? You could say that I have a 'false sense of reality' relative to yours. I think this where many relationships begin to break down: the veil begins to lift, and it is realized that both people perceive a slightly different reality, and when people in relationships become aware that they were in fact NOT sharing the same world, the very nature of the relationship changes.


And not all we see as external or solid reality is 'real' either. We know that nothing is actually moving in the above picture, yet it has the appearance of moving. We perceive it to move. (By the way, the slower the pictures move, the better your ability of handling stress. Alleged criminals that were tested see them spinning around madly; however, senior citizens and kids see them standing still. None of these images are animated - they are perfectly still.)

I don't feel that this is one of my best posts...my arguments don't quite seem convincing somehow. However I've managed to conclude the following thus far:

Conclusions:

1. There isn't an objective reality...it's all subjective (I am retracting an argument I made about a year ago)
   
2. Perhaps we can only obtain significance or meaning in the unreal or in the illusion? or in the things that belong to the realm of abstract reality
3. A common view of reality is necessary in intimate relationships

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.
--Albert Einstein

Reality is wrong. Dreams are for real.
--Tupac Shakur

We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
--Buddha

All such notions as causation, succession, atoms, primary elements...are all figments of the imagination and manifestations of the mind.
--Buddha