Updated: August 28, 2024
Is there
an objective world, independent of our
sensory experience and if there is one,
how would we know that it exists? Let's look
at some of the ways that our sensory
apparatus differs or is different
from other species. So as humans,
we have what is called
trichromatic vision, meaning that
we can see three primary colors
red, green and blue. This allows us to see a wider range of colors than
many other animals which have
dichromatic or monochromatic
vision. For example, dogs have dichromatic
vision and can only see blue and yellow
colors. When it comes
to hearing, humans can hear sounds
in a frequency range of about 20
to 20000 hertz. This is wider than
the range of many other animals,
such as dogs, which can hear
sounds in the frequency
range of about 40 to 60000 hertz.
When it comes to
smell, humans have about 12 million
olfactory receptors which are
responsible for our sense of
smell. This is fewer than
many other animals, such as dogs,
which have about 300 million olfactory
receptors. However, humans
are still able to smell a wide
variety of scents. When it comes to
taste. Humans have about
10,000 taste buds which are located on the tongue and the roof
of the mouth. These taste buds
allow us to taste five tastes: sweet,
sour, salty, bitter and something called
umami (in Ayurveda, that's
called astringent). Touch. Humans
have a wide range of touch receptors
in their skin, which obviously allows us to feel
different textures, temperatures
and pain. Balance. Humans have
a vestibular system in the inner ear,
which helps us to maintain
our balance. This system is made
up of three semi circular canals and otolith organs.
In addition to
these differences, humans also have
a unique ability to combine
information from different senses to
create a more complete understanding
of the world that we manifest. This ability known as multisensory
integration is essential
for our ability to navigate
our environment, interact
with others and learn new things. So it is important
to note that there's a great deal of variation,
even in sensory abilities
amongst each other. I will soon
be interviewing a young woman who has access to modalities
of experience that most
people don't have, and I'll share that
with you.
So of course,
animals have also evolved
additional sensory abilities
that are not found in humans. For example, bats can use echolocation
to navigate in the dark,
and sharks can detect
electrical fields produced
by other animals. So this brings a very
important question into our awareness,
which is, is there such a thing as
an objective world? Because what we call the objective world is the human sensory
experience.
Let's look
at some of the other species. So insects
have a wide range of sensory
abilities, including vision, hearing, touch,
taste and smell, and even echolocation,
some insects and even sense,
magnetic fields. These
different senses allow insects
to navigate their environment,
find food, avoid predators, communicate
with each other. Plants,
sentient beings, do not have the same sensory abilities
as animals, but they can still sense
their environment. Plants can sense
light, gravity, touch
and temperature. They can also sense
chemicals released by other plants
or animals. This information
helps plants to grow,
reproduce, defend themselves
from predators. Sea creatures
have a wide variety of sensory abilities
that help them to survive
in the ocean. Many fish have
excellent vision, which helps them
to see prey and avoid
predators. Some fish have
lateral lines, which are organs
that detect vibrations
in the water. This allows fish
to sense the movements
of other fish or prey. Amphibians
have a combination of sensory abilities
that allow them to live
both in the water and on the ground. Frogs and toads
also have a Jacobsen organ, which is a sensory
organ located in the roof
of their mouth.
This organ
allows them to taste and smell chemicals
in the air. Reptiles
have a wide variety of sensory abilities that help them to survive in their
environment. Snakes
have a forked tongue that they use
to taste the air. Imagine
tasting the air. This helps them to
track down prey. Birds have
excellent vision which helps them find food
and avoid predators. They also have a keen
sense of hearing, which they use to communicate
with each other. Some birds
can also sense magnetic fields which lets them
navigate. Mammals have a wide variety
of sensory abilities that help them
survive and thrive. Most mammals have good vision,
hearing and smell. Some mammals,
such as bats, can also echolocate. Okay, so why are we
discussing this? When we recognize that all we have
access to is our perceptual and cognitive
abilities, and that different
biological organisms have different,
perceptual and cognitive
abilities, this should automatically
dismantle the philosophy
of naive realism, which says matter is the ontological
primitive, that there is subject-object
split, that the picture of the world is the
human look of it, and that if humans entirely
disappeared, then the world would look
the same as it looks
to humans.
You can see
how ridiculous this naive realism is if you want
to understand truth. So once again, we are embedded in
a virtual reality. Our body-mind is part of
the virtual reality. This virtual reality has been called
Maya. Maya is the goddess
of illusion that actually takes
a field of possibilities
and creates a species-specific
and culture-specific and even individual-specific
experience of the
physical world. There is no
physical world. There is no physical
body. And ultimately,
there is no mind. There's
only consciousness fluctuating with species-specific
qualia, and even the electromagnetic
fields, particles, atoms, force fields, gravity are
first experiences in consciousness, modes of knowing
in consciousness, before they reify
as what we call the environment
and the world. Naive
realism is very good for creating
technology because technology extends the range of our experience in the virtual
reality that we are immersed in.
In fact,
without naive realism
and its basis of subject-object
split, matter as the ontological
primitive, I wouldn't be able
to speak to you. So naive
realism has created the human universe, but that's not
the real reality. The real reality is formless,
irreducible, spaceless,
without cause, fundamental, infinite,
incomprehensible. So after all this
analysis, the mystery of existence gets even
more mysterious. And that brings us to the last niyama. Niyama,
rule of engagement with the self, okay, rule of engagement
with the self. And that last niyama
is called Ishvarapranidhana. Surrender to the mystery, which is
unfathomable, incomprehensible, and impossible
to conceive or perceive.
Who you are is that. Tat Tvam Asi.
Who you are
is inconceivable and imperceivable, but without the inconceivable
and imperceivable, there's
nothing to conceive or perceive. So think about this and give me
your feedback and let me know if you find
this useful..
