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I am really interested by the fact that many people seem to be frustrated by the feeling that we are "limited" in our experience of reality. This feeling of being cheated/missing out seems to have its root in a couple of notions. First is the idea that different species experience reality differently. For example, some animals are able to perceive a wider range of a given stimuli than we can, while other animals have receptors for stimuli we cannot perceive at all. Additionally irksome is what we have learned these past few classes, that the much of the external stimuli that we are able to experience may be fabricated by our brains. It can even be debated whether there is actually one objective reality out there. And if there is one Reality we may have to accept that we will never be able to fully observe/experience it.

I get how this can be frustrating. We miss out on certain ways of perceiving the world, what we do perceive of the world cannot be counted on to truely represent whats out there, there may not even be an out there out there, and even if there is we may never be able to get to it.

I am interested in the problems other have with this idea. To me it seems pretty...logical. We perceive the world via mechanisms that are appropriate for the behaviors we carry out. We dont have receptors for magnetic fields because that information is not particularly useful to the way we live. Humans typically find a good spot and stay there. We do not cover large distances and therefore do not need the unique navigational devices some birds have developed. The sound range we are able to experience is determined by the sounds relevant to our lives, human voices, tiger roars, baby cries, trickling streams, a mosquitos buzz. We make things up because there are gaps, and since on the large, things are predictable, we are able to fill in the blanks appropriatley. Whether or not there is an out there out there is pretty irrelevant for our lives. Who cares? As long are we are able to function as an individual and a society the existence of an objective reality has no real consequence one way or the other. Though it is of course an interesting talking point.

I'm glad this blog exists and that I get to hear the questions raised by other students. For example the questions that have been asked, and I hope continue to be asked about this concept. And what exactly about it surprises or bothers everyone. It is true that we miss out, but what if we could perceive magnetic fields? Would this additional information benefit us? Would we be able to integrate it with our other sensory mechanisms to create a unified experience? Or would any more infomation be too much information, resulting in sensory overload and a jumbled experience? I guess I am questioning the merit that could be found in experiencing "more" "all" or "true" reality.