Just Because it's Different...

I feel like I'm being cheeky here, but I read a recent post called "Reality Blindness" by David Straker on the Changing Minds blog that struck me as questionable. David suggests that "[s]ome people, it seems, are not in touch with reality. They live in their own world of fantasy where everything is just so. Or perhaps not so. A fantasy can be a nightmare as well as heroic delusion. Whatever their way, they seem totally blind to the reality around them."

In a fit of passion about my own take on reality, I didn't hesitate to write a potential comment for David that essentially questioned him about the nature of reality and what it was he was actually referring to - whether it be his own reality or that which is co-created by us as a society. Comment moderation is switched on for the site and perhaps I was a bit aggressive or missed his point, or perhaps he hasn't had the chance to respond, but I note that the comment has not been posted.

Essentially what I was trying to get at is the very nature of that which we call "reality". As human beings we are constantly creating our own realities and for the most part, no one's is any more valid than anyone else's. Our so-called reality is shaped by our own experience and capacity for interpretation of that experience, whilst having to contend with the separate realities that exist within the bounds of other people's perceptions.

As one who has been deemed to have "completely lost touch with reality" twice before in my life, by use of language such as 'psychotic' and 'delusional', I don't believe that there is any such thing as objective reality. Sure, there exists a world out there but there are so many facets to that world that different perceptions, experiences and genetic makeup all come into play to interpret it. One person's bliss is another's hell.

We as individuals, part of subcultures, broader social sets and even nations are constantly trying to impose their reality on others and it just doesn't work. There will always be an opposing view or take on that reality. I have my own, inner, personal reality and I also have that which I co-create with those around me - my family, my co-workers, friends and fellow internet users (the list goes on). My own inner reality is how it is, be it skewed, similar, in black and white or colour compared to any other. Just because it's different, doesn't make it wrong.

What is your take on reality?