Reality

​Reality
Grandma Fannie says:  Color inside the lines but don’t go along with the crowd.
 
The definition of sanity could be said to be the ability to have a shared reality.  Yet, if we use this definition in a sharply polarized society we would all be working to commit each other to mental health facilities.  Of course, the problem would be that with everyone locked up there would be no staff and, thus, no facilities
 
We in the United States have a history of priding ourselves on being independent individualists; to not go along with the crowd.   At the same time we have been taught to not cause trouble; to obey or follow a host of written and unwritten rules; to not color outside of the line; to not cause trouble or upset people.  These conflicting messages have often resulted in a society of people who believe that their reality is the only possible sane reality.  Many would go even further and suggest that their reality is the only possible moral reality. 
 
I vividly recall, as a child, being told that saying l did something because my peers did it was not an acceptable reason.  At the same time, our mother was very shameful if we went to school with patched jeans or other signs that we were poor or different in any way different from other families.  As a matter of fact although we were extremely poor we were not the only poor family in the community.
 
Grandma Fannie was clear that learning was high on the list of admiral and moral achievements.  At the same time, she also had a lot of rules which essentially translated to not coloring outside the lines of acceptable behavior.  
 
Most of us in the United States grew up with the conflicting messages to be fiercely independent in our thinking and behavior while, at the same time, staying within the limited arena of shared reality of carefully constructed boundary fences. This training has led to very polarized and one might suggest schizophrenic  groups.  Whether it is political parties, religious groups, curators of history, school systems or other groups we want to belong to a group which limits our thinking/our reality which is in opposition to those who belong to other groups which limits their thinking.
 
One cannot be blamed if one is confused or if one questions the shared reality of any group of people.
 
Perhaps the only shared reality which makes sense is that humans - especially humans in the United States - need to take a step back and attempt to identify the questions.  It is, after all, the questions which will shape reality.  Perhaps some of the questions on which we might agree are:
 
·      Is there a cause and affect interplay between all parts of the universe(s)?
 
·      Is team work more productive than working as individuals?
 
·      If team work is more productive it is advisable for all members of the team to be as healthy as possible?
 
·      Are we still learning how nutrition, stress, and genetics affect each other?
 
·      Is reality created by a mind of an individual or is it external/universal?
 
·      Is shared reality going to be shaped by the questions we ask?
 
·      What factors affect our thinking and, thus, our view or reality and the resultant decisions?
 
·      If reality is created in the mind should we kill each other because of the lack of a shared reality?
 
·      Is free will a very questionable concept at best?  Why  do physicist such as Brain Greene question free will?
 
·      It is our daily intention to create a more just and loving world or to prove our neighbor’s reality is wrong?
 
One could fill many pages with these and related questions.  Perhaps the most basic questions we must ask Grandma Fannie are:
 
·      Should community rules shape our shared reality?
 
·      Is reality necessarily and always evolving?
 
Written July 21, 2021
Jimmy Pickett
coachpickett.org