(OT) Deja Vu all over again!

[AV3]

On Jul/3/2011 11:1823 AM, Liam Proven wrote:
> On 3 July 2011 16:04, AV3<arvimide at earthlink.net>  wrote:
>> On Jul/3/2011 9:3642 AM, Liam Proven wrote:
>>>
>>> On 2 July 2011 20:05, Ric Moore<wayward4now at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>
>>>> On Sat, 2011-07-02 at 10:58 +0100, Liam Proven wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On 2 July 2011 03:34, Ric Moore<wayward4now at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, 2011-07-01 at 13:12 +0100, Liam Proven wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On 1 July 2011 12:57, Ben Darby<bendarb at gmail.com>    wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> * Liam Proven (lproven at gmail.com) wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On 1 July 2011 07:31, Jordon Bedwell<jordon at envygeeks.com>    wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On 07/01/2011 01:23 AM, Ric Moore wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Heh, I certainly believe in acupuncture and bee stings for relief
>>>>>>>>>>> for
>>>>>>>>>>> arthritis, as they have worked for me. Millions of others do
>>>>>>>>>>> too... but
>>>>>>>>>>> they're all just ~gullible~ Chinese, who will shortly own us all.
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> ...
>>>>
>>>> We agree then. Whatever one perceives is one's reality. :) Ric
>>>
>>> What?
>>>
>>> No. Absolutely not. There is only 1 reality&    perceptions or beliefs
>>> do not affect it in any way.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Ric is right. Whether there is one or more "realities," we only perceive it
>> with human senses, so perception is as close as we can get to it. Consider
>> the visible spectrum of light. It is a tiny fraction of a much larger
>> spectrum. Just to perceive that larger spectrum directly we would have to
>> perceive trillions of colors as intensely as those "seven" in the visible
>> spectrum. Even "pictures" in the nearby infrared are translated into colors
>> we can perceive. We do have a sense of touch sensible to heat, but it is
>> crude compared to the extension of vision into the infrared which some
>> insects and birds have.
>
> Indeed; that is the nature of the universe - emphasis on the "uni-" -
> that we inhabit. How do we know of this imperceptible spectrum and so
> on? Via science and scientific instruments.
>
> Bees see in UV, some snakes in infrared; electric eels in
> electromagnetic currents and bats and cetaceans in sonar. We still all
> share the same reality. The means of perception thereof do not alter
> it.

The nature of "one reality" is a matter of metaphysics and theology. 
Physics and science measure what we are capable of perceiving and 
imagining within our puny limits. Ultimate reality is so far beyond us 
that it is a matter of faith, beyond our perceptors and imagination.


The Ptolemaic universe served the needs of natural philosophers for a 
thousand years. I suppose a hundred years from now the perception of 
what surrounds us will make our ideas seem as quaint as Ptolemy is to 
us. But science is just a continually receding refinement of perception 
and interpretation. I think the half-life of human knowledge is less 
than a hundred years. Today we only have an infinitessimal advantage 
over Ptolemy, nothing like a near approach to "one reality."


I'm all for science, but I know it is human, all too human.


>
>


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