Cuckoo 2/19

What is reality and how can it be defined?

Class on Tuesday really got me thinking about reality and what is real and what is not? I started to think back to a class I had first semester freshman year. One of the things that we discussed was the idea of reality and the real. We watched the Truman Show and read the Allegory of the Cave. All of these are examples of people who have been placed into a false reality; well from our perspective on what is reality. So, what is real and what is not? How can we define reality when everyone has different viewpoints on reality? I think that it is up to each person to decide what is real according to his or her life.

In both previous examples the people believed that their way of life was reality, but to an outsiders perspective they were living with a false perception of reality. If trying to categorize what type of reality these are you could see them in two ways. One argument could be that this is a reflection of reality because it is really happening. But if you were to view the situations from an outside perspective in the belief that you are living in the real you might argue that they are living in a reality that is a mask and denature or reality. It masks reality because society is placing these people into a false world. Especially in the Truman Show, he has been placed there to live in this perfect pristine society for the enjoyment of others. We all know that reality is not perfect. When trying to decide what is real and what is not all depends on the viewer’s perception of what is real.

Through out the semester it seems as if everything is based on the viewer’s perception. Going back to the idea of an open text, when we read something it doesn’t necessarily matter what the writer/artist intended it is what we got out of the text. It is all based on our perception of life and reality and how it has had an affect on us personally.

Going back to reading through my thoughts about these concept in my previous class I start thinking more about reality and what is it. I describe both situations as people being chained down to seeing reality as false, but what if we are chained down as well and our views are considered false if others were to look at how we are living.

Ever since I have come to school I have met people who group up completely different than I did. There are some people who seem to have been sheltered and don’t know what life is really like, they may be seen as having a false sense of reality. This concept could easily be questioned in our own society. We have all come from different areas and have different viewpoints on what is real. So when others look at our lives the may believe that we do not understand what is real.

All of this just furthers the idea on how we view what is real and what is not depending on what we believe. There is not one clear definition of what is real in life and what is not.

I feel like I have just rambled from one point to another and I am sorry for the confusion, yet I continue to come back to the same conclusion. I am sure that I could continue to bring up different aspects of life that could be viewed differently, but I am going to stop so my head doesn’t explode with thinking about what is real and what is not. I just continue to question and wonder how my perception of the real differs from the person next to me. Is my perspective of what is real false in the eyes of someone else? What is real?