I once learned in a college Philosophy class that nothing is real. That everything that surrounds us is merely our interpretation of it.
"This desk," my Professor said, "does not exist."
He placed his hand on the desk.
"It exists because the nerve endings in our fingers tell our brain that they can feel a hard surface. So we know it is solid. Our optical receptors in our eyes tell our brains that it is brown, so we know it's color. It exists because our senses communicate to our brains that is it so, and for that we do not doubt that it is so."
Our world exists because our bodies communicate to our comprehensive brains that it exists as we see, feel, smell, hear, and taste it to be. And from a philosophical perspective, does this not also mean that as much as everything around us exists, it's quite possible that none of it does? Or perhaps what one person sees or hears or smells is not what another senses in that same scenario?
And so when people discuss feelings, I can't help but find their attempts at rationalizing "feelings" to be somewhat amusing. They want proof. They want evidence. But is not your evidence less real than my feeling? Your proof is merely the compilation of your senses telling you that something is legitimate. Facts can only explain the "How" of the world. But not the "why."
Faith, Love, Intuition. These are all things that exist without our rational senses telling us that they are Real. None of them can be explained with scientific evidence. None of them can be displayed in a lab using complex formulas. They can't be forced, they can't be created without a personal will to possess them. But are they any less real? Because our hands can't hold love and tell us that it is there? Our eyes can't see God and tell our brains that faith is practical. We can't hear intuition except in the silence of our inner minds. Not a one of those things is communicated to our brains by sensory perception. And maybe that is why they resonate in our minds when we discover them within ourselves. The way the blind can sometimes have magnified hearing to compensate for the loss of that sense... when we FEEL in our minds, it's amplified because of the non-use of our other senses to discover it.
So don't tell me that my faith is false. Don't tell me my love is misled or that my intuition is unfounded. Because they are just as realistic of an idea as the desk you sit at to read this entry.
"This desk," my Professor said, "does not exist."
He placed his hand on the desk.
"It exists because the nerve endings in our fingers tell our brain that they can feel a hard surface. So we know it is solid. Our optical receptors in our eyes tell our brains that it is brown, so we know it's color. It exists because our senses communicate to our brains that is it so, and for that we do not doubt that it is so."
Our world exists because our bodies communicate to our comprehensive brains that it exists as we see, feel, smell, hear, and taste it to be. And from a philosophical perspective, does this not also mean that as much as everything around us exists, it's quite possible that none of it does? Or perhaps what one person sees or hears or smells is not what another senses in that same scenario?
And so when people discuss feelings, I can't help but find their attempts at rationalizing "feelings" to be somewhat amusing. They want proof. They want evidence. But is not your evidence less real than my feeling? Your proof is merely the compilation of your senses telling you that something is legitimate. Facts can only explain the "How" of the world. But not the "why."
Faith, Love, Intuition. These are all things that exist without our rational senses telling us that they are Real. None of them can be explained with scientific evidence. None of them can be displayed in a lab using complex formulas. They can't be forced, they can't be created without a personal will to possess them. But are they any less real? Because our hands can't hold love and tell us that it is there? Our eyes can't see God and tell our brains that faith is practical. We can't hear intuition except in the silence of our inner minds. Not a one of those things is communicated to our brains by sensory perception. And maybe that is why they resonate in our minds when we discover them within ourselves. The way the blind can sometimes have magnified hearing to compensate for the loss of that sense... when we FEEL in our minds, it's amplified because of the non-use of our other senses to discover it.
So don't tell me that my faith is false. Don't tell me my love is misled or that my intuition is unfounded. Because they are just as realistic of an idea as the desk you sit at to read this entry.
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