Realism
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on the other hand, is not compelled to present itself by having an outward
appearance. Appearance does not exist materially in the world. It is a category of
mind.
Kant was perhaps the first philosopher to draw a real distinction between
properties which things have in themselves, and the experiences they produce in
us. Objects have inherent physical properties resulting from electromagnetic
energy operating on atoms. On a totally different level, phenomena trigger
our sense organs to fire, and after elaborate processing and coding, the sensory
signals are registered in consciousness. However, there is no logical reason to
assume that there is any similarity between physical properties of the external
world, and inner experiences. The animal mind, by its nature, envisions a
world of features, aspects and appearances, but those things don’t exist outside
of mind.
The only conclusion we can draw is that there is no way of representing or
describing the world “correctly”. The physical world and our vision of the world
are different kinds things: The one is matter, the other mind. The brain of
every living being has a model of the world sufficient for its needs. In order for
language to make claims about the world, what is used is a match-up between
words and our representations of objects. When we think about the world, we
are manipulating objects drawn from our scheme of segmentation. That’s the
very reason minds are so useful: You can play with ideas instead of taking risks
with real things.
The Picture-Postcard Theory of Reality
When a landscape or view is discerned by a living creature, what the creature
sees is a carefully organized display of separate objects. The shape and individual
identity of each object is immediately recognized. The visual brain of animals
manages this so efficiently that the viewer is not aware of any effort to create
this display. What is even more remarkable (though few of us fully appreciate
it) is that what we see is a single coherent picture, experienced by the viewer as
a unified meaningful whole. It will be explained in this chapter that the task of
the living brain is not merely to take casual notice of what lies in front of us, but
to organize it in such a way that it is immediately usable by an acting, striving
animal. A sentient creature doesn’t just passively register sensations, but has
the burden of using the data from the senses to manufacture a coherent and
useful vision of reality.
As discussed earlier, over evolutionary time every species has evolved an
inner model of the external physical world. The model is designed to account,
79
on the other hand, is not compelled to present itself by having an outward
appearance. Appearance does not exist materially in the world. It is a category of
mind.
Kant was perhaps the first philosopher to draw a real distinction between
properties which things have in themselves, and the experiences they produce in
us. Objects have inherent physical properties resulting from electromagnetic
energy operating on atoms. On a totally different level, phenomena trigger
our sense organs to fire, and after elaborate processing and coding, the sensory
signals are registered in consciousness. However, there is no logical reason to
assume that there is any similarity between physical properties of the external
world, and inner experiences. The animal mind, by its nature, envisions a
world of features, aspects and appearances, but those things don’t exist outside
of mind.
The only conclusion we can draw is that there is no way of representing or
describing the world “correctly”. The physical world and our vision of the world
are different kinds things: The one is matter, the other mind. The brain of
every living being has a model of the world sufficient for its needs. In order for
language to make claims about the world, what is used is a match-up between
words and our representations of objects. When we think about the world, we
are manipulating objects drawn from our scheme of segmentation. That’s the
very reason minds are so useful: You can play with ideas instead of taking risks
with real things.
The Picture-Postcard Theory of Reality
When a landscape or view is discerned by a living creature, what the creature
sees is a carefully organized display of separate objects. The shape and individual
identity of each object is immediately recognized. The visual brain of animals
manages this so efficiently that the viewer is not aware of any effort to create
this display. What is even more remarkable (though few of us fully appreciate
it) is that what we see is a single coherent picture, experienced by the viewer as
a unified meaningful whole. It will be explained in this chapter that the task of
the living brain is not merely to take casual notice of what lies in front of us, but
to organize it in such a way that it is immediately usable by an acting, striving
animal. A sentient creature doesn’t just passively register sensations, but has
the burden of using the data from the senses to manufacture a coherent and
useful vision of reality.
As discussed earlier, over evolutionary time every species has evolved an
inner model of the external physical world. The model is designed to account,