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Angel Desai's picture

Etc.

This is a really cool discussion! However, I wonder if maybe we're reading too much into the different "types" of reality that exist and whether absolution is applicable. Perhaps part of the purpose behind discovering that everyone "sees" things differently is ultimately an argument for some sort of cultural relativism...there is no absolute truth since perception is in the eye of the beholder, and therefore we cannot claim superiority of one viewpoint over another. For me, this sort of explanation makes me forget its neurobiological underpinnings and leaves me more confused...

 

The problem with believing in such a relativistic world is that there is no ultimate value system against which we can hold people accountable. While I agree that we should not consider people with different world views "abnormal," to say that every single person's reality is in some way acceptable, implies that action which is considered universally "bad" might actually be okie if that action is within the realm of an individual's personal reality. And doesnt this entire discussion suggest that there must be some ultimate reality against which all other realities are compared?

 

 

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