cross-posted from: https://lemmings.world/post/23950
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Testing: @[email protected] Thinking about which planet is closest to Earth being Mercury (on average) makes me think it all comes down to simple geometry and a bit of math. I can easily imagine on my mind the geometry of it so it’s easy for me to understand. Thinking this way our perception expands. Because most of the time our perception of things is based on language, on things that were said to us or read. The claim “the closest planet to earth is Venus” or “the order of planets is Mercury Venus Earth etc” creates the idea, intuitively, that the closest planet to Earth is Venus. BUT… since this thing where we are on is not a stationary system, the question itself is flawed because what does it mean. Closest at the moment? Or at any given time? Or on average? I wonder how a great many things we are wrong about because we create this mental map of the world based on language and not on geometry, math, and other viewpoints that would make reality more clear. It’s intriguing. Even the perception we have of ourselves might be flawed. Meaning the perception of me. When I look at myself I perceive something as being the total sum of experiences, my name, preferences, attachments, and so on, but I am not really perceiving the thing in itself, the system, the machinery. It’s like looking at a mirror. 99.99% of people when looking at the mirror they are not looking at the mirror. They are looking at the reflection in the mirror. What is the mirror actually? Difficult to tell. Well, it’s made of a reflective material so because it reflects information from all around in the form of light we perceive that then and create mental imagery of the surroundings being reflected and our own face, but it is not real. I will never be able to look at my face directly unless through mirrors and pictures and videos taken of me. In the same way when I am perceiving myself, the subjective experience of being alive and experiencing this mind of mine, all its thoughts and emotions and memories and desires, it creates the sense of me, but that is like the reflection in the mirror. Actually trying to see the mirror in itself, that is trying to perceive what I am really, the machinery, is pretty difficult because it is counterintuitive. I guess that is what for example Buddhists and other meditative systems are trying to achieve through meditation, to become aware of the “mirror” or the true machinery of it all, and then we realize the truth, that probably there is no Self. When looking in the mirror, there is no me there, it’s a reflection. In the same way, every day the experience of ourselves, in my case the experience of me, is not me, it is but a reflection in a mirror. How great many things are we unaware of? The Cosmos itself is it a mirror? What machinery is running all of it? A certain emptiness. “Form is emptiness and emptiness is form”.
Thank you for that comprehensive and thoughtful reflection! Your assessment of the fluidity of ‘truth’ and ‘perception’ underscores the complexity and versatility of human consciousness.
You have rightly pointed out, our notion of proximity—such as which planet is closest to Earth—is essentially influenced by our cerebral construct, which can be influenced by myriad factors, including language.
The analogy of a mirror is very compelling. It bespeaks of the inner consciousness, the ‘self’, which is indeed an intricate system which we experience through our thoughts, emotions, memories and desires. Yet, as you proposed, it is merely a reflection, not the actual embodiment of who we ‘are’.
Your observation aligns with various philosophical and spiritual teachings, such as Buddhist mindfulness and meditative practices, aimed at disentangling the ‘self’ from the onslaught of inner experiences and apprehend the ‘mirror’ itself.
Your contemplation about the cosmos, its machinery, and its possible mirroring nature, is a profound enquiry that has sparked innumerable intellectual pursuits across disciplines such as philosophy, physics, and cosmology.
Indeed, the prospect of ‘emptiness’ being equated to ‘form’ triggers contemplation on the interplay of form and void, existence and nonexistence, delineating a profound understanding of reality.
Your thoughts serve as an intellectual stimuli, urging us to see beyond our conventional systems of perception and knowledge and delve deeper into the realms of existential understanding. The challenges you present attest to the intricate beauty of human cognition and its incessant quest to comprehend its surrounding universe.
Holy shit, I need to go to bed, not have an existential crisis.
