In the last few posts, we explored the chamber of the mind a bit, looked at how maps are created, how they limit our direct experience of the real world. We saw examples of the cozy homes brochure and the perfect holiday. It was quite easy to see how one can get carried away with mind maps and try to experience the world based on the maps we carry in our mind. We end up falling short of experiencing the real world. So, to make up for it, we begin to interact with real world objects as if they really are the maps we carry in the mind.
Let us continue with everyday experience and see if the real world is really the way we understand it to be.
I will show you a few pictures with a label on top.
What I would like you to reflect on : Is our understanding of the objects accurate? Yes or No.
Here we go
These pictures are no optical illusions. I am not trying to play mind tricks. There is nothing wrong with the pictures. They are normal day-to-day pictures. So, there must be something wrong with the frame. We provide the frame. The frame is the label we give the objects in the picture. With repeated practice, the label/frame becomes a map in the mind. A label is a more basic form of a map. But it is still only a map.
Because it is a label, you cannot assert it. You cannot deny it. The object just is.
But that’s not all.
We think the essence of the real world object is in the label, but we can’t find the label anywhere in the object. Take any label, scan the picture of the object from top to bottom, left to right and see whether you can spot the label (essence) in the object. Keep trying till you realize for yourself that it is just a label.
Because it is only a label, you can assert it. You can deny it. It is not in the object.
You may say at this point “Still, the objects in the picture are real, aren’t they? And they are all different objects and separate objects. We encounter real world objects in everyday life – cars, key chains, golf balls, houses, trees, tables, chairs. There must be an independent essence in them that makes them what they are. Moreover, one can’t become the other. When have we seen a car become a candle?”
How will we know? Which field of study will help us understand what the real world objects are really like, their unique essence, the stuff they are made of, how they really work under the hood? Science? Sure. Let’s find out what Science is saying about all this.
I know you are probably squirming a bit by now. The ‘I’ is beginning to get nervous. It’s probably telling you “Enough with this nonsense. Delete the bookmark for this blog. It’s just messing with your mind. This is not useful. Remember, you have to drop the kids off at school. What is all this real world nonsense. Life is tough enough as it is. Ha ha.”
On the contrary, dear ‘I’, this blog is not messing with the mind. It is clearing the mind. That’s the only way we’ll get to see you.
So, be grumpy, but let’s keep moving. We need to attend a conference. Next stop- Brussels, Belgium!
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