What our brains perceive to be real, and what is truly real is not always the same. Or we can put it like this, how do we know that this reality that we are experiencing at this very moment is actually happening and not something that our brain is creating? Some have attempted to explain this as the holographic universe, and this ties in to the theory of quantum mechanics.

By association our brains construct our realities as we know it, based on information that is already stored. For instance, if we see a cat, its hairy, it has a tail, it has pointed ears, whiskers, it is small, it walks a certain way, etc.. all of this input is put into our brain and then we make an association with information that is stored there already, to come to the conclusion that it is a cat.

Now imagine that you had never seen a cat before and had never been taught what a cat is. And maybe the only animal that you had ever learned about was a monkey. If you experienced a cat, all of the normal input would go into your brain, but the only stored reference that you would have to associate it with is a monkey. So naturally your brain would come to the conclusion that it was a short limbed pointed eared monkey.

Now lets take this a step further, and look at some of the un-explained phenomenon on our mysterious earth. When we see a Unidentified Flying Object, we have to try and explain it with associations that we have in our brains currently. So it is like the person who has never seen a cat before, thinking it is a monkey. Our understanding of it is based upon things we already know, but might not necessarily be true. Ghosts have to be the spirit of a person that is dead. Right? Wrong! It doesn’t have to be, but that is how our brains put it together to make sense of it.

Now the reason I have went through this is to point out that the way that we perceive the world around us, determines our reality. If we look at situations from a perspective of fear or intimidation, then we will live a life of fear and intimidation. And on the other hand if we perceive things from love and gratitude, then that will be our reality. There is an interesting story to explain this.

The Six Blind Men and The Elephant

Six blind men were discussing exactly what they believed an elephant to be, since each had heard how strange the creature was, yet none had ever seen one before. So the blind men agreed to find an elephant and discover what the animal was really like.

It didn’t take the blind men long to find an elephant at a nearby market. The first blind man approached the beast and felt the animal’s firm flat side. “It seems to me that the elephant is just like a wall,” he said to his friends.

The second blind man reached out and touched one of the elephant’s tusks. “No, this is round and smooth and sharp – the elephant is like a spear.”

Intrigued, the third blind man stepped up to the elephant and touched its trunk. “Well, I can’t agree with either of you; I feel a squirming writhing thing – surely the elephant is just like a snake.”

The fourth blind man was of course by now quite puzzled. So he reached out, and felt the elephant’s leg. “You are all talking complete nonsense,” he said, “because clearly the elephant is just like a tree.”

Utterly confused, the fifth blind man stepped forward and grabbed one of the elephant’s ears. “You must all be mad – an elephant is exactly like a fan.”

Duly, the sixth man approached, and, holding the beast’s tail, disagreed again. “It’s nothing like any of your descriptions – the elephant is just like a rope.”

And all six blind men continued to argue, based on their own particular experiences, as to what they thought an elephant was like. It was an argument that they were never able to resolve. Each of them was concerned only with their own idea. None of them had the full picture, and none could see any of the other’s point of view. Each man saw the elephant as something quite different, and while in part each blind man was right, none was wholly correct.

There is never just one way to look at something – there are always different perspectives, meanings, and perceptions, depending on who is looking. Another example that I can give you is John’s girlfriend of 2 years just left him or to be politically correct Jane’s boyfriend of 2 years just left her. It works both ways! Now the first perspective would be woe is me, I must have done something wrong to cause this, I can’t ever maintain a relationship etc… Or on the other hand we can look at this from the opposite end of the perspective spectrum and think, this is a great opportunity, I was wasting my time trying to make a relationship with this person, now my situation opens up the opportunity to find my true soul mate.

See how the perspective from this situation starts to shape our reality, one being negative and the other being positive. It is important to look at things from a positive perspective, if nothing else it sure makes life a lot more enjoyable and less stressful. The last thing I want to leave you with is a cool experiment that you can do at home. Plug your headphones in to your computer, (you must use headphones for this to work properly) and listen to the video that I have provided and you can get an example of things that your brain will perceive, but cannot determine whether it is real or not. Only our external senses can make the decision as to its realness or not. Take Care my friends.

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUDTlvagjJA]

1. 

   Deb Estep says:

   February 29, 2008 at 6:13 am

   Loved the message Charles.

   Many years ago I was working at a company doing
   electronic assembly. There were about 5 women
   and myself who worked in an area that was close
   enough for us to talk back and forth among ourselves.
   We would listen to radio talk shows and on some days
   discussions would start. Everyone of us heard the same
   thing, but it could be viewed in such different ways.
   Sometimes those discussions would escalate to arguments.
   I will have to say that most often I was a listener and not
   IN on the arguments. I coined a phrase to share with
   my friends that thankfully ended many an argument
   before they totally go out of hand….

   “Interpretation is personal and similarity is relevant”
   D. Estep 1992

   Which brings me to the virtual haircut. I could see
   where one might perceive the haircut to be real, just
   from the sounds, but the sounds were not altogether
   relevant to me.
   I’ve never had a male cut my hair, nor have I
   ever had anyone near my head with a buzzer.
   I kept hearing the sounds and in one sense I could
   close my eyes and imagine, but then again, a part
   of my brain kept saying not real because of what
   did not relate to me. Quite interesting though.
2. 

   Liara Covert says:

   February 29, 2008 at 6:48 am

   Each perspective is meaningful, provided you are ready and willing to sense it that way. The blind men remind us that we can choose tolerance, understanding and we can also agree to disagree without contention. Everything about this existence is a choice.
3. 

   Charles Hamel says:

   February 29, 2008 at 1:26 pm

   Thanks to both of you for you comments

   Nice Debism “Interpretation is personal and similarity is relevant”

   Sometimes I don’t make myself clear enough… There was an experiment done with a machine attached to a persons brain to measure activity. What was found was th brain registered th same readings whether the person was dreaming or actually experiencing real life. So as far as the brain was concerned both experiences were real and only our senses can distinguish the difference.

   Dr Covert, in each of the blind mens perspective, whatever that they had perceived was their reality. Agreed that there is far to much fighting going on in the world due to different perspectives. That is a weakness of man, by always having to be right.

   I wrote a post a while back that said would you rather be right or happy. I would rather let the other person be right and I can be wrong, it makes no difference to me… But I will still be happy.

   Thanks so much to both of you. You make this Blog a joy!