An Inner Model Out There

     Well hello there and welcome back. Thank you for joining me, as always. I know my last two posts may have been a change of pace. Maybe some have yet to see their relevance. The truth is both of them were intended as a sort of introduction to bring us to the series of posts that I get to start today. A couple times now, I've sat down with a topic in mind, and found there was no logical place to start. For example, when I began writing this blog, "Two infinity and Beyond" and "There's a Method to the Madness" were not relevant points in my awareness. However, I found it impossible to get to "Noticing Noticing" without giving some context. These last few entries were no different. So now I will begin exploring the significance of applying the learning lens (see "Clumsiness and Climbing Castles") to the various layers of "the system" that has been the topic of the previous two posts ("A look at systems through the learning lens" and "Looking at Layers: The Power of Perception").

     The most important pieces of the last two posts are that 1) each person has a unique perspective which is 2) both relative and limited.  The word relative is important and points to the idea of relationships between the observer and that with which she or he interacts. Each person's awareness and perspective is limited by the specific set of relationships (s)he has experienced throughout his/her life. In this sense, relationships refers not only to those between people, but also to those between objects, places, groups, etc. This is significant because each relationship is an opportunity to apply "the learning lens", fostering more precise interactions between the two.

     So maybe this is getting complicated, but let's start to bring it into context. Specifically, we are only aware of what our experience has shown us. If something has yet to be experienced or introduced to us, it's as if that thing does not exist. That is to say, something that lies outside of a person's awareness simply does not exist for that person. Example: if all of a sudden a person materialized in the room where you are, then explained perfectly how it worked and taught you how to do it yourself, it would drastically alter your understanding of the universe and the laws of physics. If someone simply tells you this is possible, it probably won't do much to change your reality. However, the second you experience it, and are completely convinced that it exists, it is permanently something that will affect your perception of the universe and whats possible.

     Another way to look at it may be such. The universe exists out there, all around us. Inside of our brains is another, active running model of that universe. The one in our head is completely based off of what we have seen. It is a sort of mirror image of the real one out there. One problem is that the model in our head is only a partial model, based on our experiences and specifically the parts of the universe we've seen and experienced. Based on the concept of infinity (see "Two Infinity and Beyond") it is necessarily the case the the model is only partial and lacking information.

     Also, this model has been partially constructed by others such as scientists, religious figures and or any other person who has ever shared details about how the universe might be. For example, the model of most people reading this probably has the Earth moving around the Sun in an elliptical manner, and the Moon around the Earth. However, an extremely small percentage (probably no one) have ever taken the measurements and crunched the numbers themselves to demonstrate that this is certainly the case. We're just taking someone else's word on that one, and rightfully so. We have to trust others because there's no way we could possibly test every little "fact" discovered previously.

     Now here's the crux of the post. Each person has a working model of the universe running in their head. It very closely resembles the real one "out there" that's all around us because it is based on it. However, and this is the key, what we perceive is not the real one out there, but the model we have running in our brains. This is why "paranoid" people actually perceive people coming after them every time they catch a funny glance from a stranger. Also, why "crazy" people have such a hard time understanding what others see as obvious. Whatever is going on in their minds is completely real for them. There are a few movies in recent years that do a great job of demonstrating how powerful perception really is. If anyone is having difficulty really grasping this point, I would highly recommend a few movies such as "Eternal Happiness of a Spotless Mind", "Shutter Island" or even "The Truman Show" (sorry to put two Jim Carry flicks in there). This is also the reason Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny seemed so real until the illusion was broken. Its why magicians actually seem to be doing something super natural until the "trick" is learned. Have you ever seen an illusion performed after you knew how it worked? Once you know, all you can see is what's going on behind the scenes that pulls it all together.

     Now, I don't want to drag on much longer, and it already seems that I won't be completely entering the topic how I originally planned. However, I hope the following idea is a little more grounded now. Our perspective is subjective. We often, even usually, project aspects of our inner state onto what we observe around us. So the most significant relationship to which we can apply the learning lens and develop an increasingly precise relationship is to our "selves". Developing an increasingly precise relationship between our conscious mind and our more instinctual nature, which some have come to call "ego", can lead to powerful shifts in perspective and help us to see the world more objectively.

     Thank you for joining me here. If you ever have any questions or something seems unclear, please feel free to send me a message or email. I'll leave you with this, an entertaining video that probably demonstrates what I'm talking about more clearly than I ever could in words. Hope its not too offensive to anyone. Thanks again.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCHRkoMD3EM