Some people believe that Reality is objective and obeys
the laws of logic and the scientific method for formulating
theories, testing hypotheses, and verifying facts. Based
on this belief, some people proudly proclaim themselves
to be members of the Reality-Based Community. The
problem with this belief is that it's only one of many
versions of Reality. Truth is, radically divergent
Reality-Based Communities are constantly competing
for supremacy, and what, at any given moment, is called
the World is the version of Reality currently prevailing.
4 comments:
Some people are probably correct in believing it, though those who are almost certainly aren't living in a Reality-Based Community competing for supremacy. The logic trail that assumes the stack of what-we-knows has anything much to do with what we don't know, or will lead to better understanding of what we don't know is the glue holding communities of that sort together. But it presupposes nothing of importance slipped through the cracks at the base of the pyramid.
I like the way Saul Bellow phrases the matter in The Adventures of Augie March: "And this is what mere humanity always does. It's made up of these inventors or artists, millions and millions of them, each in his own way trying to recruit other people to play a supporting role and sustain him in his make-believe. The great chiefs and leaders recruit the greatest number, and that's what their power is. There's one image that gets out in front to lead the rest and can impose its claims to being genuine with more force than others, or one voice enlarged to thunder is heard above the others. Then a huge invention, which is the invention maybe of the world itself---with cities, factories, public buildings, railroads, armies, dams, prisons, and movies---becomes the actuality. That's the struggle of humanity, to recruit others to your version of what's real."
But— What is Reality?
What gives any validity to the things, meanings, and values that constitute human experience?
Just curious.
May I suggest Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann, The Social Construction of Reality? I have found it very helpful in answering questions such as yours.
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