Another great question in philosophy is “Consciousness.”

How do we perceive our reality or is everything an illusion not to be too simplistic. This is very important to think about when trying to answer this very difficult question.

What is consciousness? How can we test consciousness? Is consciousness different for every individual or are we constricted to our conditioning and linguistic capabilities?

A great source of information regarding this question can be found at: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-representational/

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After having a discussion with a family member, they through out the idea that the soul is consciousness or the ability to perceive and recognize reality of the outside physical world. I said I had to sleep on it. Very difficult question and somewhat unanswerable.

In the scientific sense consciousness and the ability to navigate life from birth to death would linguistically and probably medically mean “soul”.

For me, “soul” has been mystified as a sacred life force for some time, so it was difficult to compute. Hence, I had to sleep on it. Being conditioned to the fact that the soul could mean many things. My cousin and I came to the realization that soul may be the wrong word for this life force.

I am still unsure.

Are we all animals that develop consciousness, which is sacred or distinguishes us from other animals or do animal also experience consciousness?

hmmmmm.

I am still thinking about this.

For me or after limited thought on the question, maybe we all living and non-living things are connected to this universe. How we experience life can all be connected too. How we perceive our surroundings and react to our perceptions in what we call daily life over a human lifespan is very interesting and some call philosophy of the mind.

What makes us different? What makes us similar? and what can get us into trouble or be happy or sad all has much to do with our perception of the outside world. Our navigate able qualities and adaptability is actually necessary for survival in most instances.

to be continued…..

https://studio.youtube.com/video/Kvxy-NvgHQo/edit/basic

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/dance/

Reflections here are ones derived from a careful read of the following article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/perception-episprob/

This is one of my favorite questions in philosophy. A friend once told me that because they are not a qualified observer i.e. doctor, scientist or specialist in some thing his observations are all but hallucinations.

I tend to disagree. Sometimes it takes the comments of an outsider to rid the structured approach and long held beliefs to come to a realization or innovation. Hence, the freethinkers movement. It is very arrogant to not take everyone’s opinion because in every opinion lies a hint of someone’s truth. I am not for a free-for-all but study and explanation reaction counter reaction in a civilized manner.

Concurrently, our perceptions may not be true. Take the story of Galileo, who was house arrested for years due to the fact that he said the Earth revolved around the sun. Today we take that as truth.

With modern science we can observe that the sun in not just a small disc in the sky but a huge fire ball comprised of gas. Yes, it takes a special observer to realize this but sometimes it takes someone to think outside the box to get the special observers to solidify a claim through science. Unfortunately, it is the best that we have got.

Without getting technical, we do not want to run into a tyranny of opinion or fact….yes many mistruths will survive but you need to constantly bombard the truth so that it can survive. If not to borrow from mill we run into a problem of dead dogmas. I am using this quote in a different arena but I think it also survives the truth of science.

The mind is very powerful and theories can become truths with advances in technology and scientific testing devices. Take for example Hobbes Boson or “God Particle” very interesting that humans could think of this before testing apparatus was even thought out to explain our world.

So the easy answer is can we trust our perception, sometimes yes and sometimes no, but logic would say no in most instances.

So, what is the solution?

Maybe it is never take anything for granted because life is a mystery. Mystery is beautiful and the puzzle of life will always be interesting.

Thank you heavens.

Reflection here is based on this article: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/reasons-internal-external/

What comes to mind when making a personal decision? It can be as simple as what to eat or not to eat. Many people do not realize the gravity of the personal decision making process. If you are one for structure you will make all your decisions based on a plan or some set of regulatory decisions. If your like me on the other hand, you will enjoy structure or at least enjoy it as long as you have the discipline to follow your beliefs or knowledge on to what is good for you.

Let us take something not so difficult as a daily food regiment. Some people might call it a diet, I like to call it healthy active living. With all the choices we have of tasty savory calorie induced foods it is hard here to be or abide by any structure when it comes to healthy eating, but yes, it is possible.

It was not until I when overseas that the choice was limited. Try to find your favorite pizza or hamburger in some parts of the world, its next to impossible. So, it was easy to say then i’ll stick to the steamed vegetables because there was not other option. Unfortunately, a Burger King opened up on the corner in Yinchuan not to far from kung ping lui street. Boy, did I binge on those wonderful whoppers; so much so, that I got sick.

Back to the reality. It is great that we have choice but what makes one make the choice of what to eat? Is it ease in preparation? Is it convenience? Is it price? or what is best for my health?

Healthy choices are difficult, trust me? But, on a moral approach one must be educated in what is good food. I have no idea! So I trust my wife when it comes to the kitchen, I can cook just let me know what to cook since I enjoy it. I have to say having another person to talk about daily eating decisions makes my life a lot easier. Now, we look to be good role models for our little ones so they can make the right decisions, its all about education and discipline. If I was single, 9 times out of 10 I would pick the hamburger but now we can make our own succulent hamburgers and even veggie burgurers which are a treat.

I place it down to being lazy and not making right choices just like everything else. Is it hard to predict these decisions of course and that is why we have no consensus on why we eat or make food choices that we do. Yes, one can be economic and another lack of discipline. But fruits and veggies should make your eating habits a delight and if they are too expensive for some maybe a government subsidy is due.

This was a fun exercise in philosophy……if you liked it please join in the discussion.

I do not want to sound like the food police but a balance is needed. Eating out everyday is can will kill you, trust me.