Thought and Reality

Yep, sounds like a problem to me, and somehow the notion that they need to brainwash themselves has grown to incorporate the brainwashing of all.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

forgive my cut and paste but i saw some connection to the topic at hand...

Man's words are an expression of his consciousness and perception, a means of relating his own view of life. Once these ideas are crystallized in his mind, with a coherent worldview established, all subsequent revelations are compartmentalized into the structure that he has already established. From this point on, he sees only what he wants to see.

Here's an example: As a young infant, a human being first begins to grasp his surroundings by learning to identify a few familiar images; his mother's face, his own crib, his siblings. As he grows, and as his mind continues to develop, he slowly begins to comprehend ever more; traveling the world around him, and finding his way with ease. For this reason, modern man has few existential problems, as he pretends to understand the mysteries of life. In this way, he lives out the balance of his days, comfortable with his own self, and blissfully unaware of any higher existence.

Oblivious to any deeper sort of truth, there is nothing left to learn, and any heavenly lesson G-d wishes to send simply glides off his impenetrable exterior.

This is 'Peh Kodem L'Ayin' - the mouth precedes the eye.

His worldview already established, from this point on, he will see what he wishes to see.

you can look at the source here
http://www.shemayisrael.co.il/parsha/dimension/

and here
http://www.biblewheel.com/RR/SY_Even.asp

"as i see it the only "variable" in the equation is THOUGHT. you are capable of changing this and this alone."

I wish this particular post was recent...I believe that thought is more real than physical reality...Physical reality is merely illusion based on three-dimensional space and linear time, which are (as Kant asserted) merely categories of thought and perception and not actually physical properties of the external world. Ideas about higher dimensions of space are really about different states of mind which allow us to experience the world as it truly is (which I believe is metaphysical, the substance of which is thought). It would be easy to explain how space and time as we percieve and experience them are totally wrong. In fact, I practically wrote a book about it, shattering our illusions about space, time and matter--the three necessary elements of physical reality. The basic idea is that the world really exists on so-called higher dimensions of space but due to some limitations of our minds we are incapable of experiencing it with such qualities, that the human mind is really the "six sense" capable of percieving the "real world," and that thought is the substance of that world...and, finally, once you become convinced of these facts you will begin to "see" the world more "clearly" and possibly even be able to "influence" it with deliberate thought...This is called magic...

"Each conscious mind is alone in the universe!"

You are putting a lot of stock in thought. Do you have the slightest inkling to what thought is?

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Well, I can imagine what most people think thought is...chuckles...thought is much more than nuero-electrical impulses in the brain...I think the brain is merely a physical manifestation of mind...not the other way around..

"Each conscious mind is alone in the universe!"

Why is that? Are you going along with a soul concept? Where is the distinction of any pursuit of any thought as anything more than a survival based function or reaction.

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

The "soul concept" for me is a simplistic one...I believe more in the concept of consciousness as a sort of "light" on what has been referred to as the "Mindscape"...I believe the physical world is a "degraded" perception of the external world based on sensory perception...The real world is more 'mental' than physical, I think, and physical objects are manifestations of thought...an idea alot like the thinking expressed in the Matrix, where "objects" of the mind could be as powerful as physical, material objects....This idea isn't new...I wrote this other post about my ideas about three-dimensional space and linear time...I've put all these ideas down on paper so I could rethink them if I had to...I've concluded that the way we percieve and concieve the external world isn't correct...It's like an illusion, but one very much like a prison...I analyzed all sorts of ideas before coming to this conclusion, like the problem of infinity with respect to three-dimensional space...the problem of the "infinitely small" and the "infinitely large" with respect to modern scientific theories about molecular, atomic and subatomic particles and the concept of a "closed" or "open" universe, the phantom-like, almost metaphysical, concept of matter, the problem of linear eternity and the eternally divisible "moment of time"...it's all pretty scary when you think about...chuckles.

"Each conscious mind is alone in the universe!"

So scary it makes you laugh, I love it.

So, what is the ultimate purpose and goal of this thinking you do so much of?

What does anyone stand to gain from your thoughts?

Do you just wanna be a superhero? Don't mind me, kind of an inside joke.

Or are you just curious? If so, why do you think that is?

"The Greatest Enemy of Knowledge is Not Ignorance, It is the ILLUSION of Knowledge. Stephen Hawking"

Hmm...It really all started when I was 15...my sister brought to her college bookstore and I notice a book by a Russian mathmetician and mystic named Peter Demianovich Ouspensky. The book was called "In Search of the Miraculous"...Anyway, it made a big impression on me, and I began reading all sorts of books on mystical and esoteric subjects connected with modern scientific concepts...It's really about me, I guess, personal development...After all, all my thoughts have already been written down, just not laced together like it is in my mind...It's all pretty amazing

"Each conscious mind is alone in the universe!"

something i hear more and more of- from a science based perspective- is that our reality is nothing more than smoke and mirrors


that which is in the physical, comes from the spiritual (or so i heard)

"as i see it the only "variable" in the equation is THOUGHT. you are capable of changing this and this alone."

Reality is relative to each individual, through countless conversations with others - you couldn't say it was an "illusion." What is an illusion, anyway? Good old Webster states:

a obsolete : the action of deceiving b (1) : the state or fact of being intellectually deceived or misled : MISAPPREHENSION (2) : an instance of such deception
2 a (1) : a misleading image presented to the vision (2) : something that deceives or misleads intellectually b (1) : perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature (2) : HALLUCINATION 1 (3) : a pattern capable of reversible perspective

What is reality?

Main Entry: re·al·i·ty
Pronunciation: rE-'a-l&-tE
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural -ties
1 : the quality or state of being real
2 a (1) : a real event, entity, or state of affairs <his dream became a reality> (2) : the totality of real things and events <trying to escape from reality> b : something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

--

THERE it is. The state of being real, to someone. Which will be relative to each individual based on their unique experiences - some of which they may share with others, but not all. "Something that is neither deraviative nor dependent but exists necessarily" - for whom? The individual in question, again that would be relative to each person.

How you perceive your experiences, how you choose to react, is a direct of the experiences you have. Those two factors make a reality for you - the reason why idealism and "realism" exist, and are so often debated, because those cannot be DEFINED without challenging the ideas..what is really idealistic and cannot become reality? What is really realistic, anyway?

The crazy ones make that which was once considered idealistic, realistic.

"Milk, almonds and pistachios."