It has suddenly dawned upon me just how false a view of reality the digital realm offers. I have seen articles that discuss the resolution of analogue projectors and of even 35mm film, which show that their potential resolution is lightyears ahead of any comparably priced digital equipment. Then we have the constant rush to update this, update that- burning up time and treasure as we do so, often for benefits which may well be very valuable, but are only to be superceeded by newer versions. This can indeed mean buying new software, new cameras, new computers- something we have to go slowly on just to avoid over-spending.
The colours we see on monitors or from digital photography are limited compared not only to reality, but also to film. What we read of on the internet, the perspectives we see are also curtailed in their expression to make for snappy little soundbites or quick and flashy glances. More so, every minute we spend on the internet is one kept distracted from our greater reality- yet we are hooked. I am writing this on the net, just as you, dear reader, are reading it.
In many ways digital technology is of course superior and getting better all the time. Yet it is all aproximations of an analogue world. No ebook can beat the satisfaction of curling up with a good read. No way of note-taking can beat the pen in the notepad- indelibly printed, not subject to umpteen whims. The same problem of seeming disposability effects this writing as it does my digital photography. It is all to easy to edit- so where and when does meaning really begin or end? When must I say a final statement, even a temporarily final one? There is no finality, just an endless stream of words with a constant ability to seek recourse through editting. Things can be erased without apparent traces, whilst paper must be burnt or hidden- it has a real existance in a real world, despite holding the abstraction of words. This article, by contrast, has a virtual existance in a virtual world, leaving only digital traces once I delete anything.
Of course, once printed or viewed, it enters the analogue realm of reality- a reality in which values and actions have very real existance... yet here I must needs digress, as the reality of such existance is called into doubt by my philosophically-digital perspective. Might reality, as we experience it, share in such approximations of ultimate solidity- might it not have an effervescence of it's own? Might what we see with our eyes often be an illusion holding a greater truth within? Might a highly esteemed virual, internet reality get a value of it's own simply from the commonly-shared admiration of it?
Such thoughts can be entertained here, yet at the end of the day, relaity is warm, breathing and analogue and the digitised representations of this are by their very nature limited and limiting, though due to the nature of technology possibly more satisfying reproductions of it than most analogue attepts, which were comparativey clumsy. We can here draw at least a preliminary conclusion of what to reember, lest we forget-
1) Reality is analogue- that is, essentially soft and warm.
2) The digital realm is a reminder, a pointer and an often artistic representation of this, but is not to be confused with it, however strong the essentially escapist inclination to do so might be.
3) Digital technologies may be impressive, but they are as a whole less developed than their analogue ancestors and cousins, less satisfying. The ease of digital does not make it a substitute yet for the refined nature of the best films, and paintings, so rich with the personality of their creator, have yet to be satisfactorially rendered in the digital realm, though we are certainly working on it!
Real words and real feelings have true value. Now that the world has the leader it wanted- in Barak Obama's symbolic perfection if not in personal attributes as such- we are free from many a dream lain over us. I feel we are entering a new level of understanding, where we connect more fully with our past.
Starfire
Showing posts with label Reality Studies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reality Studies. Show all posts
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Speculation 1
Speculation 1
This world can be harsh,
Can be so unfair,
There are times when I fall,
Into deep despair.
The pressure to conform
To another’s expectations
Is enough to push one
Into endless procrastinations.
Yet the god in me
Cries out to be heard.
Deepest reality
Says I’m not just a nerd.
Is poetry truth, or the truth poetical?
The justice of Aeons says this is the case,
Yet daily reality is a jumble of perceptions
Where a common cord of unity is hard to find.
This world can be harsh,
Can be so unfair,
There are times when I fall,
Into deep despair.
The pressure to conform
To another’s expectations
Is enough to push one
Into endless procrastinations.
Yet the god in me
Cries out to be heard.
Deepest reality
Says I’m not just a nerd.
Is poetry truth, or the truth poetical?
The justice of Aeons says this is the case,
Yet daily reality is a jumble of perceptions
Where a common cord of unity is hard to find.
Signs of Reality
Signs of Reality
Reality, life, communicates to us in mysterious ways, much like an artist buries his hidden meanings in appearances. Here are some of the attributes that we often find here.
-Enigmas; things which we find difficult to explain.
- Ironies; things happen in a surprising way, confounding our expectations.
-Puzzles; things are hard to understand, until the evidence is collected and assembled.
-Simplicity; when all is said and done, the simplest explanation is the most all-inclusive.
Reality, life, communicates to us in mysterious ways, much like an artist buries his hidden meanings in appearances. Here are some of the attributes that we often find here.
-Enigmas; things which we find difficult to explain.
- Ironies; things happen in a surprising way, confounding our expectations.
-Puzzles; things are hard to understand, until the evidence is collected and assembled.
-Simplicity; when all is said and done, the simplest explanation is the most all-inclusive.
Levels of Reality
Levels of Reality
The deeper one heads in search if reality,
The more order and meaning one will find.
By accessing reality from the deep reservoir within us,
We connect with the cosmic unity itself.
Yet in this insubstantial reality of time,
A great spiritual battle is being waged,
Between the forces of light and those of darkness-
The children of each are ever at odds.
The deeper one heads in search if reality,
The more order and meaning one will find.
By accessing reality from the deep reservoir within us,
We connect with the cosmic unity itself.
Yet in this insubstantial reality of time,
A great spiritual battle is being waged,
Between the forces of light and those of darkness-
The children of each are ever at odds.
The Search for Reality
The Search for Reality 1
Where does reality end and fantasy begin? Or, conversely, where does fantasy end and reality begin? Can it be judged, just by how many people share a belief, that it be truth or delusion?
Looking at society as a whole, is there really a ‘War on Terror?’ Is there., in fact, a ‘War on drugs?’ I’d wander how much crime is in fact linked to the drugs trade, the substances people turn to when they just can’t cope. Without demand, as they say, there is no supply. Which means that any real war would be a ‘War on Misery’. Yet, instead, we are stuck with phonies in command that baulk whenever asked to confront fundamental causes.- which is not to excuse the behaviour of the ‘enemies’ in such wars, wither, just to say that there is something deeper at stake, which are lead by the nose to conveniently ignore.
The Search for Reality 2
Did you ever notice the way in which what actually happens can be so opposite to our expectation at times, however often it conforms. Of course, this exposes certain flaws in our understanding of the situation. Yet, at times, it is almost as if something else is happening, that as we live, imagination carries on it’s own life and reality another one.
This may sound crazy at first glance, but such mental events can be the very bedrock of sanity, allowing us to cope with compromised surroundings. A life fed by ‘wish-fulfillment’ dreams, which is the stuff of fantasy everywhere.
Yet, there is no disjunction as the two lives carry on, each invested with our passionate energies, sometimes our fantasies the more so. There is a continuity, even if at times it produces ironic contrasts- that girl we like being cold to us, the one we have less interest in being warmer. Yet, we can have faith that the ‘real’ reality is ultimately the more positive one, even if we don’t really know why.
The Search for Reality 3
With ultimate reality, simple is best- bathed in the bright light of God.
With projected, insubstantial realities, things can get very complex, as mortal beings project their attempted organization of things onto their environment, seeking personal benefits. Such ‘personal’ benefits can include their families, or other groups, yet ultimately all such projections are of individual identities. It is good to seek for the best. Yet, it is wrong to see this as in some way ‘exclusive’ and in ways that might deprive others- the abundant universe has enough for all. Power plays, lust for power over others, are all ultimately delusions in a free-will universe where we should in fact practice universal love.
God can help with his love and grace even in such dark labyrinths of illusionary limitations. Indeed, encountering such possibilities may even be part of the divine plan.
Where does reality end and fantasy begin? Or, conversely, where does fantasy end and reality begin? Can it be judged, just by how many people share a belief, that it be truth or delusion?
Looking at society as a whole, is there really a ‘War on Terror?’ Is there., in fact, a ‘War on drugs?’ I’d wander how much crime is in fact linked to the drugs trade, the substances people turn to when they just can’t cope. Without demand, as they say, there is no supply. Which means that any real war would be a ‘War on Misery’. Yet, instead, we are stuck with phonies in command that baulk whenever asked to confront fundamental causes.- which is not to excuse the behaviour of the ‘enemies’ in such wars, wither, just to say that there is something deeper at stake, which are lead by the nose to conveniently ignore.
The Search for Reality 2
Did you ever notice the way in which what actually happens can be so opposite to our expectation at times, however often it conforms. Of course, this exposes certain flaws in our understanding of the situation. Yet, at times, it is almost as if something else is happening, that as we live, imagination carries on it’s own life and reality another one.
This may sound crazy at first glance, but such mental events can be the very bedrock of sanity, allowing us to cope with compromised surroundings. A life fed by ‘wish-fulfillment’ dreams, which is the stuff of fantasy everywhere.
Yet, there is no disjunction as the two lives carry on, each invested with our passionate energies, sometimes our fantasies the more so. There is a continuity, even if at times it produces ironic contrasts- that girl we like being cold to us, the one we have less interest in being warmer. Yet, we can have faith that the ‘real’ reality is ultimately the more positive one, even if we don’t really know why.
The Search for Reality 3
With ultimate reality, simple is best- bathed in the bright light of God.
With projected, insubstantial realities, things can get very complex, as mortal beings project their attempted organization of things onto their environment, seeking personal benefits. Such ‘personal’ benefits can include their families, or other groups, yet ultimately all such projections are of individual identities. It is good to seek for the best. Yet, it is wrong to see this as in some way ‘exclusive’ and in ways that might deprive others- the abundant universe has enough for all. Power plays, lust for power over others, are all ultimately delusions in a free-will universe where we should in fact practice universal love.
God can help with his love and grace even in such dark labyrinths of illusionary limitations. Indeed, encountering such possibilities may even be part of the divine plan.
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