Reality is Malleable A question seen in constant circulation in philosophical communities is one that asks whether or not humans are in control of how they perceive reality. Many people believe that the conscious decisions people make have a direct impact on how one perceives the world around them. In Robert Thurman’s Wisdom, the idea that reality is malleable to those keen enough to try and bend their perception of it is explored by observing those in the process of finding “selflessness”. These individuals are ones who collectively decided to alter how they valued and perceived themselves and those around them, in turn they dramatically changed how they saw the world around them. In Daniel Gilbert’s Immune to Reality, the human emotional
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Whatever spin one is able to put on a past experience becomes canon to them in their timeline. Due to the change in perspective one would experience on a past event, one can change the reality of a situation from one they viewed as grim and negative to one accepted as a positive and constructive experience. When an individual experiences negativity due to their own folly “we can console ourselves by thinking of all the things we learned from the experience” (Gilbert 135). The power of positive thinking is very potent, as demonstrated by Gilbert’s studies and many others, as it allows an individual to change how they experience events. When something happens to a person that they initially react horribly to, the person is actually able to change how they recollect the event, and in turn alter their reality. With conscious decision, one is able to change their reality of situations from that of a negative one to a positive one. The power of is similarly demonstrated by a man who lost his sight observed in Sacks’ work. Typically, he was malcontent with losing his sight, “At first Hull was greatly distressed by this: he could no longer conjure up the faces of his wife or children, or of familiar and loved landscapes and places. But he then came to accept it with remarkable …show more content…
People who decide that all of the bad things going on in the world are important and deserving of their attention will experience reality in a darker tone than a person who chooses to value all the things going right in the world, because the latter of the two will perceive that all is good and well because they decided to focus on all that is good and well. Individuals that serve as a prime example of people who altered their values to perceive reality differently are those in Thurman’s work referred to as “selfless”, a walk of life well recognized especially in Buddhism. These are people who basically decided to focus much less inwardly and instead focus almost entirely on others’ well being. The Buddha’s explanation of the metamorphosis that the human mind experiences when one travels toward selflessness is that “you become aware of your selflessness, you realize that any way you feel yourself to be at any time is just a relational, changing construction. When that happens, you have a huge inner release of compassion. Your inner creativity about your living self is energized, and your infinite life becomes your ongoing work of art” (Thurman 444). When someone transitions from living as a normal human being would to perceiving the reality of their life as a work of art,
Whatever spin one is able to put on a past experience becomes canon to them in their timeline. Due to the change in perspective one would experience on a past event, one can change the reality of a situation from one they viewed as grim and negative to one accepted as a positive and constructive experience. When an individual experiences negativity due to their own folly “we can console ourselves by thinking of all the things we learned from the experience” (Gilbert 135). The power of positive thinking is very potent, as demonstrated by Gilbert’s studies and many others, as it allows an individual to change how they experience events. When something happens to a person that they initially react horribly to, the person is actually able to change how they recollect the event, and in turn alter their reality. With conscious decision, one is able to change their reality of situations from that of a negative one to a positive one. The power of is similarly demonstrated by a man who lost his sight observed in Sacks’ work. Typically, he was malcontent with losing his sight, “At first Hull was greatly distressed by this: he could no longer conjure up the faces of his wife or children, or of familiar and loved landscapes and places. But he then came to accept it with remarkable …show more content…
People who decide that all of the bad things going on in the world are important and deserving of their attention will experience reality in a darker tone than a person who chooses to value all the things going right in the world, because the latter of the two will perceive that all is good and well because they decided to focus on all that is good and well. Individuals that serve as a prime example of people who altered their values to perceive reality differently are those in Thurman’s work referred to as “selfless”, a walk of life well recognized especially in Buddhism. These are people who basically decided to focus much less inwardly and instead focus almost entirely on others’ well being. The Buddha’s explanation of the metamorphosis that the human mind experiences when one travels toward selflessness is that “you become aware of your selflessness, you realize that any way you feel yourself to be at any time is just a relational, changing construction. When that happens, you have a huge inner release of compassion. Your inner creativity about your living self is energized, and your infinite life becomes your ongoing work of art” (Thurman 444). When someone transitions from living as a normal human being would to perceiving the reality of their life as a work of art,