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MichaelangeloGlossolalia
I can enter The Chamber
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 Posted: Thu Feb 27, 2003 9:21 pm Post subject: map vs. reality
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Bloom mentions postmodernism , and his conclusion is that they are right, that neurological and sociological evidence agrees. I think he's right, not that there's no "real" reality, but that our brains contain maps of reality that are easily shown to be false, because we are wired to create a social reality independent of actual data. Society didn't evolve to have an accurate view of physics, but to organize hunting packs and synchronize tribe members so that they could act as a unit. Sometimes that means the tribe will be wrong. Each of us contains some assumptions that we aren't aware of, that conflict with reality, and that would shock us if we knew we held them. In this, I think Bloom and the postmodernists are correct, although I'd reject the extreme view that there is "no reality", rather I would say there is a reality but that our maps of it are as incomplete as any map. A map of Las Vegas will screen out the vast majority of the reality of Las Vegas, preserving only the roads and buildings, and grossly simplified roads and buildings at that. And maps of cities are quite well researched, compared to our unconscious maps and assumptions about the world and about ourselves.
Michael |
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