When the Columbus's ships arrived in the New World, what they thought were the West Indies, they brought three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Three ships that really existed, or did they?
The Native Americans (Indians, the explorers' minds) did not see the ships. It wasn't until the Shaman stared for a long time into the sea that the ships appeared right in front of his eyes. Before, he had only noticed the ripples in the waters, but he did not know what caused them. He had to stare into the water to realize the ships were right in front of him.
His fellow tribesmen didn't not believe him at first because they could not see the ships either when the Shaman tried to show them what he'd seen. They only heeded his warning because they trusted him. And sure enough Columbus and his men came ashore.
Why did the Native Americans not see the ships, even though they were right in front of their eyes? Many scientists think it's because they had no frame of reference into which to put the ships, something they'd never before seen. Because they could not concieve of a ship like those of Columbus's fleet, they were visually blinded and did not see them.
This raises some interesting questions for us. What realities exist beyond our conprehension and therefore, beyond our visual acuity? And if we have an open mind enough for look for things out of the ordinary and use some imagination, will we be awakened to other realities? Or am I just crazy?
Only a portion of our brains are used in a way we can consider 'conscious.' True we use all of our brains, but not in a way in which we are fully aware. Take, for example, intuition. How are we aware of things that we 'feel.' There are others levels of existence and reality that we don't grasp or understand. Check into quantum physics if you're interested and want a big headache.
But what about all this? Do our perceptions determine reality? How can a ship that is right in front of you no register on a visiually functional palate? Just wondering...
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2 comments:
Persons that suffer from schizophrenia hear voices and see things that I can't hear and see, but does that make it any less real to them?
I guess what I'm trying to say is that the definition of reality as being "what we percieve to be real" can't fundamentally be right. How can your reality conflict with my reality while both realities are the real reality?
Are there different levels of reality? I think so. As you said yourself, "This life is a reality, but God is the reality."
That is really fascinating to consider.
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