The Human Perspective
I am writing this post in response, partially, to another thread, where it was questioned whether or not anything else would exist if we did not. Or, how do we know, since we couldn’t be there? Well, I’m no experienced philosopher, so I don’t have the tools of the logical arguments and reasoning of past philosophers on the subject, nor do I know whether it has been argued before.
The human perspective is tricky. It’s tricky in that it’s the only perspective we’ll ever know (excluding any metaphysical experiences, which is apparently still an experience that takes place in the mind, and therefore, human). The reason it is tricky is because our “common sense†tells us a lot of things throughout our lives, and a lot of those things are misconstrued by our limited perspective. Let me explain.
When the majority of people here a large number, such as in the millions or billions, it is literally impossible for them to comprehend this number. One thousand, one million, one billion, these words don’t have any meaning to us in a literal sense. Our brains don’t deal with such numbers, so it only makes sense that we don’t understand. A human life span is 100 years. Most of us only travel a very limited distance in most cases. Most of us don’t have millions or billions of dollars, and even if we did, the numbers that describe money are much different than the numbers that describe people. If you’re not sure what I mean, I strongly recommend watching the Penn and Teller’s Bullshit! about numbers.
So obviously it’s very difficult for us to view things outside of our limited perspective. We can’t imagine life before or after death. We can’t understand huge numbers and their implications, and it causes some serious flaws in our understand of what is really going on. Let me use an example.
In another thread, I presented the assertion that if human beings never existed, all of the atoms in the universe still would. There were a few who argued against this notion, saying that there is no way of knowing. It seems this is the exact same question as “If a tree fell in the forest and nobody was around to hear it, would it make a sound?†This post will answer that question.
Instead of stating that nobody was around to hear that tree fall, let’s suppose that there wasn’t even a creature on earth capable of hearing. Would that tree make a sound? The answer is a resounding NO! I know that the tree would not make a sound if it fell. How can I be so confident in this answer? The explanation lies in what sound is.
When a tree falls, the reason we hear a sound is because of the waves knocking air molecules around until those waves vibrate our eardrum and are interpreted by our brains. For sound to exist, there must exist the being who can receive that vibration and process it. Otherwise, the waves going through the air are just that: waves. Sound cannot exist without a being receive those vibrations and process that information. Sound is a word that the human race has defined to describe the action of receiving and interpreting these waves. Without beings that can hear, sound does not exist.
The same can be said for what a tree “looks like.†If there was nothing in the entire universe with the ability to “see,†what a tree is would be completely different. It’s all relative.
The reason I bring this up is because although it is impossible to escape our human perspective (not up for debate under this thread!!), it is possible to realize that these limits exist. This realization is one that not many will ever make, which is unfortunate, because it seems that without it, it’s much more difficult to see a bigger picture.
