One of mans greatest confusions

In my opinion, we confuse reality with an image. Take for example the world, most people will say people are selfish/bad and that the world is full of evil and fear. We see the world like that because we are looking at an image. Another example would be a murder, if we look at a person and see a murder then we are seeing an image. In reality it was a person who's journey took them to where they are. Right or wrong, well that can be debated. People are not bad or murders, they are people. We end up confusing people with images when we really hate and fear the images.

We struggle to see things as they are, instead we personalize our outside world and how we think its affecting us negatively.

I have an uncle who got out of jail 5 years ago for murder. everyone around our part of the country is afraid of him.
But I lived with him when I was a kid and he was the best person I ever knew. All of his friends and family loved him and said his humour was brilliant. Also we lived in a extremely rough place.

But some of the stuff he had done is insanely evil, he once found out how broke into his house beat him up then cut 3 massive lines down his face and 3 across with a razor and now this guy is massively scared for life. Its hard to reply to your post but I know where your coming from.

In reality, there are no subjects such as good or bad. The two are human made concepts that in the end can never work because they are one giant paradox. For there to be good, there must be bad. Therefore, no matter how much good there is in the world, there will be a consistent bad. I personally believe every person has a reason for certain crimes and such, it's just the fact the a social norm has been instituted and if you defy the laws you are bad by speculation. When in fact, it is just your perceptions that guide you, and you do what you do in the moment. A person might kill someone one day, and the next day he could want to become a priest.

Bascially, all of our beliefs and assumptions about right and wrong are based on the idea that we have the ability to exert control over the actions of others.

reply to post by Ralphy


'with our minds we make the world' and the more I think about this the more it's true. I've been studying NLP, hypnosis and Buddhism and this idea is talked about a lot

The great Milton Erickson would talk about how when we were young we did not know the difference between a d and a p shape and we have to form images to learn and we have images going on in the background of our mind all the time but do not notice. He also spent much time talking about the benefits of confusion and how it can be incorporated into new ways to learn things. Nice OP

Peace

PS The map is not the territory or the menu is not the food.

Thoughtful post, couldn't agree more. Most of our perceptions are in reality projections. There is a saying "when I am pointing a finger at you, three more are pointing back at me"

So we shouldnt be upset with a negative image?

So we shouldnt make judgements based on quality? Is that what youre saying?

I love how in a moral sense, the equivalists get all antsy about "looking at the image", and yet, when it comes to culture, or if comes to science, we need to look at "images" and make judgements about what we see.

I think its paramount that we always strive for a better society. It is pure gnostic moral apathy that considers socieities ills "just the way it is" when in fact it is humans with free will who make it that way.

All we need do is change ou attitude from what it currently is, to one of divine responsibility and maturity. The problem is and has always been education..and of course the philosophical leanings of our ruling elite.

reply to post by Ralphy


Summarizing a person or culture into one or two words makes it easier when dealing impersonally with them.
Think of your friends and family - you know them intimately and so you do not think of them objectively. The things they have done, the people they are have been written in your memory. A rich description of them exists, but if needed, you could summarize them in one or two words, to a person who did not know them. eg. My father, my friend etc.

With someone you do not know at all, it is simpler to apply a title to them summarizing who they are. Mostly this is what they do. eg. Bus driver, cashier, farmer, murderer, terrorist. It lets you know what purpose this person serves for you, or how you should react to them.
Certainly, those people have their own lives, needs, feelings, history, family etc.
The bus driver may be a cancer survivor, an immigrant, a sister. She drives the bus. You need to ride the bus.
For you, she is the bus driver. Their history is inconsequential to the extent and time period of your interactions with them.
If you developed a deeper relationship with those people, the need for a title would dissipate. She would cease to be simply the bus driver, and become Sarah (brave cancer survivor, plays violin, likes Bach, divorced, friendly, from Spain) her history would give you a deeper insight into her personality. But again, those are all summaries.

The image you see is based on the knowledge you have.
Perhaps the people you know better simply have more images applied to them, and can be seen as one, or dissected into many parts.

reply to post by Ralphy

In my opinion, we confuse reality with an image.

Not only that, but we also confuse the impression the image leaves on our mind with the image itself.

We're all products of our environment, it has nothing to do with good and evil.