Déjà Vu And The Reality Of Our World

Ever heard of the term deja vu? Or have you ever been in the situation where you’ve placed something down and the next second, it's gone? This raises the question, is the world around us real? When you look at a door, it may not seem like it really is. From the outside, it is a flat, sturdy surface, yet if you look at it closer it has a very jagged surface. This means that there are different ways to view our reality. I believe that our reality entirely depends on our perspective of the world. I believe this for a variety of reasons. This view is called idealism and is supported by many different philosophers. This also can explain situations like deja vu. This also would mean that our perception of reality may be different from others and can experience the world differently. As well, we may be living in a simulation world for all we know proving that the world around us isn’t real. For that reasoning, no, I believe that the world around us entirely is in our head and depends on our perspective of how we view the world.

A theory known to be idealism was first adopted by Plato in 400 B. C. E. This conception was then used by George Berkeley to make it more specific to this topic. His proposal suggests that our reality is shaped by our thoughts and ideas. Meaning that the reality we see, may not be the same reality others see. It is primarily based off of our perception. One example of this is the television. Scientifically, it’s just a bunch of lights portrayed with some colour. However, in our vision, these “lights” create shows and action. Sometimes we get so caught up in this show, we start to “love” different characters, like it is our reality. Nonetheless, many different people choose to trust the scientific image more.

American philosopher, Wilfrid Sellars (1912 - 1989), adopted a view called “Scientific Realism” This is based off of two different ways to perceive “reality”: the “Manifest image” and the “Scientific image”. This “scientific image” point of view suggests that the way we see using our five senses in our daily life isn’t an accurate representation of what the objects really are. This is because it is subjective to each person’s views. He believes the “Scientific image” is the way to go as it tells us what the world really is, from a scientific standpoint. For example, a bulletin board appears to be flat through the manifest image, however, has very jagged terrain through the “Scientific image”. Berkeley, however, had disproved this theory proving that the “Manifest image” is just as subjective as the “Scientific image”. Let’s suppose that we use the scientific image approach to find out what a bulletin board is. We can use a magnifying glass to see the jagged surface, however, we can also use a microscope, and other equipment each producing a different result of what its “pure” form is. Which image shows the true real form? Which one should we trust? This is why it is just as subjective as the “Manifest image” because the view isn’t the same for everybody, like Sellars believed it would. This is why the “Scientific image” isn’t a reliable view of reality.

The lonely tree paradox is a philosophical thought experiment that raises many questions about observations and perception. The paradox asks “If a tree falls down in the middle of a forest, and nobody is there to hear it, does it still make a sound? However, this really makes us think what exactly defines sound? Which approach should we take to solve this question? I believe that sound is only “sound” when it reaches our ear for us to hear it. This would be the “manifest image” approach. Scientists had concluded that noise comes from sound waves vibrating throughout the air, however, what use is that if it we can’t hear it? We can only define sound if we hear it meaning that “sound” is subjective to us. From a philosophical standpoint, the sound is nothing more than a perception, that simply cannot exist without the brain to perceive it. This makes sense because sound can only be defined once heard, and if there isn’t anybody to hear it then there wouldn’t be any noise. No, the tree shouldn’t make a sound because it is only a “noise” when perceived by our senses to perceive them. What can determine the real world from a hallucination or dream, if reality is based on our perception? Realistic experiences such as lucid dreams can look like real life, but how would we know which one is which? How do we know if this is the real life? Well, we don’t. For all we know, we could be living in a computer simulation like the Matrix, or a hallucination.

Berkeley had suggested that the entire world is nothing but an idea in our minds. He reasoned that God would much rather create an illusion of physical materials rather opposed to real messy physical materials. There are also other theories that suggest how our world could potentially be a simulation. One of which, supported by Elon Musk and other folks, is that all humans are all simulated that are all wired into one large supercomputer. Now, this sparks off many other philosophical topics such as, “Can Computers Think?”. This theory can seem a bit far-fetched, but the explanation is quite simple. We already do make simulations in the world around us such as video games and virtual reality set. From this, our technology will only get better and better. As Elon Musk has said during an interview, “If you assume any rate of improvement at all, then the games will become indistinguishable from reality. ” Soon, these virtual reality simulation games won’t be different than reality. By this logic, how do we know we are living in base reality right now? For all we know, we could be living in a simulation created by higher intelligent species who’ve already reached that point of technological advancement. For example, we use virtual reality to model animals of their habits and lifestyles. We can also create models of galaxies and universes to learn more about their details. Why can’t other civilizations create simulations of us? So, it isn’t that implausible to think that our world around us is actually a simulation.

So, how would all of this explain situations such as “deja vu”? Our reality is just our perception and the way we “perceive” things is partially based off of our memories. So when we experience a situation that is very similar to ones we have in our memories, it seems like your reality is just a repeat. Here’s another example of why reality is just our perception. Let’s suppose you place a pencil down and take a break from doing your work. When you come back to your desk, you come to find that your pencil is no longer there anymore. You soon realize that it was in your pocket! Obviously, the pencil couldn’t have teleported into your pocket. So why would you be so confused? Well, since you didn’t remember putting the pencil into your pocket, you had probably done it subconsciously. This means that you did this without being aware of what you actually did. Causing you to be very confused because if you didn’t remember what you did, you couldn’t have perceived it. If you hadn’t perceived it, then you wouldn’t think this action was “real”.

In conclusion, I believe that the world around us isn’t real because our reality is different for each person. I conclude this because the world around us is subjective towards us. Everything that we hear, see, feel all comes from our perception which creates what may be real to us but fake to others. Our world around us could also be a simulation created by higher intelligence. Without our perspectives or mind, there isn’t anything that exists or is real. Nothing will ever exist without our minds to perceive our reality. As long as we are here to perceive things, our sense of reality would stay.