Subjective Reality

Apparently, I have the same thoughts as Philip K. Dick’s. I mean other than the fact that he was able to translate them into words so much better than I do. Obviously.

I’ve tried to write about these thoughts years ago, mulled over them, discussed them with people only to have them gave me a quizzical ‘do you realize you sound kind of crazy right now?’ look.

Subjective reality. Here’s how Philip K. Dick managed to put it (so very eloquently): “Maybe each human being lives in a unique world, a private world, a world different from those inhabited and experienced by all other humans. And that led me wonder, if reality differs from person to person, can we speak of reality singular, or shouldn’t we really be talking about plural realities? And if there are plural realities, are some more true (more real) than others? What about the world of a schizophrenic? Maybe, it’s as real as our world. Maybe we cannot say that we are in touch with reality and he is not, but should instead say, his reality is so different from ours that he can’t explain his to us, and we can’t explain ours to him. The problem, then, is that if subjective worlds are experienced too differently, there occurs a breakdown of communication… and there is the real illness.” (in How to Build a Universe That Doesn’t Fall Apart Two Days Later)

Here’s a small example. I have this sofa in my room. I can explain to you how it physically looks like: it’s low-height rectangular with round edges made out of black leather, which can be bent in the middle so that the half part forms a back rest. Yes sure, others who see it might be able to explain it the same way I just did, but here’s the thing, no matter how explicit they describe it, it’d still be impossible for me to see how the sofa is being projected by their eyes into their minds. Or to be exact, how they choose to “see” the sofa. Because the physical component is only half of what reality is, don’t you think? Your personal perception of the physical completes the equation.

Does all of this make any sense at all?

Oh well. I guess this is why Philip K. Dick was a writer, and I am not.

Letting Go

Things happened. And then they passed, just like that. Amazing. And I’m amazingly stupid if I don’t wanna let go. It’s been one of the biggest problems I have. And I kept asking myself THE question: why? Why is it so hard for people –including me- to just simply let go of things? Why do I still wanna stick to this part of my life? It wasn’t mine in the first place, anyway. So why the hell should I worry? Worrying about things is such a waste of time. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind wasting time. But the problem is I don’t have time. Not right now, at least. So maybe, all I have to do is free my mind. Let go of all the things that have happened. Yesterday is an illusion, and tomorrow is just a hope. What you have is NOW. Live it, cherish it to its tiniest part, and when you wake up tomorrow.. forget all about it. Only then can each single moment become a different reality.

 

(One week before leaving for Bournemouth)

 

Reality Check

I actually finished writing this post yesterday, but suddenly my laptop got restarted out of the blue. So, here it goes (again).. I actually had this thought when I was in class yesterday. We were talking about Propaganda. How the Government/Organisation controls Public Relations (well, since they are being paid by them), and the PR controls the media, and we, as the outsiders/citizens/consumers, are being fed by the media. Then here’s a question, if the flow of information is being controlled, how do we know what’s real?The discussion led to another thought, that the world is merely a series of constructions. Politics, social, economics, power. Nothing is ‘natural’ anymore. Everything is constructed, categorized, stereotyped, masked, sculpted. It’s disturbing.

So, if PR equals persuasion equals propaganda, was there still any room for democracy? Or is it merely an idealistic concept? If only Grunig’s symmetrical communication can be applied perfectly.. But, even the society is unequal. So, why all the fuss about democracy? Then I had this chat with some of my friends from.. well, basically all over the world, it turned out that propaganda is everywhere. It’s like the root of the government. It’s unavoidable.

We can say it’s democracy, that it’s fair, if we are given the truth, the whole part of information, and let ourselves to filter it on our own. But what exactly is this so-called ‘truth’? The truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God? Sorry, but I could say that nothing is pure anymore. Each aspect has been affected by any kind of arrangements provided for us by the ‘higher power’. It’s depressing. I know. So what do we do?

Well, I reckon we should use the all the norms, principles, and knowledge we have to filter the media storm. As my friend used to say: ‘don’t believe everything you watch on TV’. That’s the least thing I could proposed.

(Media Relations class with John Brissenden. Such a great guy.)