On one level we all agree to a consensual reality; a group reality if you will. We all agree that this is a table, that is a chair.
But that is not the reality in which we live. Our group reality says this is a tree but my individual reality depends on the meaning I give to the tree. Does it provide fruit, shade and firewood or is a problem – something that’s in my way & has to be dug up.
Imagine you’ve won a free weekend to the National Line Dancing Championships being held at a Holiday Camp. How does that make you feel? For some that’s a dream come true because tickets are like gold dust. Others would rather stick pins in their eyes. So whose version of reality is right?
Well, the truth is – they are both right within their own individual worlds. It is true to say that we really do live in different realities, different worlds. “What planet are they on” or “Where are they coming from?” are commonly used phrases to suggest that somebody’s reality is different.
Two brothers could join the army at the same time; go through the same training and events. One develops Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the other sleeps like a baby. Why? Because it’s not the event itself that is good or bad – it’s the meaning we attach to it. It is the emotions, the feelings and the meaning we attach to the event that creates our perception of that event, it creates our own individual reality.
I’m sure you can think of events from you own experiences where you and several others have all witnessed the same event but the emotional reactions were very different.
If, on holiday its forecast to rain for the next week, the meaning you attach to that news could be “oh typical, just my luck! Our whole holiday ruined. I’ve been looking forward to this for months & now its hopeless” OR you can say “well, at least it could get us off our backsides and cause us to seek out entertainment or fun elsewhere. Do you know, I’ve never been 10 pin bowling”
Research has shown that if on your way to the theater you lost a £20 ticket, it would be painful to pay another £20 to see the show because you have already paid once. However, if you were to pay at the door and lost a £20 note on the way, you would still happily pay the £20 for your ticket.
All of which means that reality is subjective – we all create a model of reality and it’s this model; this internal representation of the world, what it means, and how we feel about it that counts and not the actual things themselves.
Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder.
We all think that how I perceive this to be is real. The conscious mind fully accepts this but does not question how that perception comes about or is arrived at.
If we create our own reality – then why not create a nice one. But, before we can do that we have to understand how this perception of reality comes about. But, that’s another story.