The World As We Perceive It, But What Is Beyond Perception

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2 years ago

If you are reading this, then there is a fair chance, that you believe in the existence of a world beyond your perception. All you can perceive in this world with your five senses, you call it reality. But what is reality? Your brains process the information, that they receive and give you your perception of reality, or the world as you perceive it to be. But how do you know what is real and what isn't? You don't, really. You can only trust your perceptions.

We all perceive something different. You are the sum of your experiences and you have a vision, a perception of what you believe to be true. But what is actually out there? Is the world that you see, smell, hear and feel truly real? Or do you just perceive it as being real? The same way you can't taste your tongue or see your eyes, reality may be just an illusion. Your senses deceive you all the time; they tell you that things are real even when they are not.

In the world we live in today, there is no lack of information. How do we determine what is real and what is not? Do you ever wonder if our perception of reality could be distorted by something outside of it? What if what we perceive as reality is just one layer to a much deeper truth?

Image source: https://www.braingymmer.com/en/blog/perception/

The Perception Of The World

The world is what you perceive it to be, what you choose to believe it to be. The world as you see it, the world as you choose to interpret what you see. Most of the time, your perceptions are correct. But what if they are not? What if what you think to be true is in fact, not? What if there is a greater understanding of the world, that you can attain? That is the question that lies beneath our conscious thoughts.

I am not a proponent of any particular philosophical view on the matter, but I will say that all of these views share a few common traits. They all have assumptions, that are untested by any scientific method. Yet, they all try to answer the question of what is, in one form or another. They all use reason and logic to solve the mystery of the universe. It is just that some reason and logic to a different conclusion, than the rest.

How do we perceive what is around us? How do we distinguish what is real and what is not? It is not through the use of our five senses, that we come to our conclusions. Rather, we use our intellect to formulate an answer to this question. Yet, our intellect is fallible. What if our conclusions are wrong? What if there are other ways of looking at the world, that go beyond forming an answer through the use of our own reasoning powers?

The Problem With Reason

Reasoning is the use of logic to form a conclusion from facts provided by our five senses. It is a method, that has served humanity well, but it is not foolproof. There is a lot of information, that we can't access or pay no attention to. Our senses can also deceive us. How do we know what we think we know?

Asking questions is also a form of reasoning. Asking a question, we assume an answer to be true, in the hopes that we will receive a response. Asking a question is a method, that is used to confirm an already formed conclusion, rather than one that forms a conclusion on its own.

We are also limited by the types of questions, that we can ask. While we may ask about the nature of reality, we can't really do anything, that would change the nature of reality itself. While there are many things about reality, that we don't know, there are also many things, that we may never be able to know.

The limitations on our methods of reasoning, as well as the limits of our questions, are two very real things that we must consider. But what if there are other ways of looking at these limitations? What if we can combine the power of our intellect with the power of our intuition, to create a new and more accurate way of looking at the world?

What Is Beyond Our Perception?

Do you see a world beyond your perception? More accurately, I should say, do you believe that there is a world beyond your perception? There are so many things, that we may not be able to perceive with our five senses, that it's hard to know what to think. On the highest level, we can perceive only three dimensions. But what if there are more dimensions? What if there are more, than one kind of dimension? What if the objects in your room right now, are in fact, smaller than they appear? What if they are in fact in different colors, then you see them? What if they are not solid, but liquid?

I could go on, but you get the point. You don't see a world beyond your perception. But what is beyond your perception? How to know that there is anything beyond it? How to know that what you perceive as reality is in fact, reality? How do you know that what you are looking at is not something, that can only be perceived by the person looking at it? Is what you are looking at real or is it just an illusion? Therein lies the riddle of perception.

The Other Dimensions

Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/kustopaint/50944352098

If perception is inherently limited, then there are bound to be other dimensions, that we can't perceive. But what if we could perceive more than just one dimension? What if we could perceive all of the dimensions in which the world is actually being perceived? What if there were more than one of these other dimensions going on at once? If there were more dimensions, then there would be more than one way in which an object can appear.

For example, in our three-dimensional world, a ball appears in only one way. It appears as a ball. There is only one way that a square can appear. It can only appear as a square. But what if there were more than one kind of dimension? What if a square appeared in more than one way? Would it appear as a square in one dimension and as a different shape in another? Or maybe all of the different shapes of squares would appear as one big blob in another dimension. Who knows?

This is just one example. There are an infinite number of possibilities. But here is the important thing to realize: As long as the dimensions are indistinguishable from one another, we would be able to perceive them all.

The Reality Of Perception

Just because you can see something, hear something, taste it or feel it, does not mean that it exists, or that it is real, or that it is anything at all. Perception is inherently limited. If it wasn't, then we would all be supermen or superwomen, wouldn't we? Perception is what allows us to distinguish between the world and the world of dreams.

The limits of perception are the limits of knowledge. What we know is always defined by what we are able to perceive. The objects that we are able to perceive are the objects that we are able to know. The world is what we are able to know, given what we are able to perceive. So, if we can't perceive something, then it doesn't exist. Or at least, it doesn't exist in the way that we think that it does.

Our knowledge of what we can perceive is also what limits our perception. If we knew everything that was possible to perceive, then we could perceive everything. But we can't do that. Not even in theory. There are always gaps in our knowledge. So, we are always able to look at something and say, "Well, I guess that it's..." Or, "That's not..." Or, "I don't know what it is, but it's not..." We can never see everything, that is possible to be seen. That is the reality of perception.

The Solution To The Riddle

Now that we have discussed this, the solution to the riddle is obvious, isn't it? If there is a world beyond your perception, then all of the different possible ways in which that world could look, could exist. In fact, that is the only way that it could look. A world in which every single thing could appear in all of its possible forms, would be indistinguishable from our own.

But how could this be? How could a world like this exist? There are an infinite number of possible ways in which this world could exist, but there are only a finite number of dimensions in which this world could exist. Therefore, there must be something else, that we are missing here. But what?

The answer is so obvious, so simple, yet so frustrating. It all depends upon what you mean by the word "dimension."

Thank you for reading.

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Comments

We can't say the person is right or wrong not unless we see what's really is. People have different perceptions and we can't control it.

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2 years ago

Yes I guess everybody is right in there own way of perceive things.

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2 years ago

World is what the way we perceive it, and there is no doubt in the fact that we perceive differently according to our own point of view.

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2 years ago

Exactly! It is very interesting, because animals see the same things what we see, but it is different for them in terms of colors I believe.

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2 years ago

Every person have different perceptions 🤗

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2 years ago

Yes that's true. You can see below what I replied Sequoia about it.

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2 years ago

Interesting questions. I have touched the question about reality and perception many times. I am a subjectivist, meaning that we can never know anything about any objective reality, only about our own subjective perception of a reality. I think you would like a series of mine, starting with https://read.cash/@Mictorrani/brain-horror-vacui-fear-of-the-void-ae876896 Another 3 parts follow (links in the article).

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2 years ago

Thank you so much I will read them.

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2 years ago

Perception differs from person to person. And you are right, just because we can use the five senses on somethinh means that its real. Anyways, I agree that askinh questions plays a very vital role in our lives.

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2 years ago

Yes everybody has different perception. Once somebody asked me what I can see when I look up to the full Moon. I always see like a face in there. My grandfather saw a shepherd. Interesting.

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2 years ago