An Existential Question:  What is reality?

Human beings base their reality on a combination of factors, based on the five senses. If you can touch, taste, smell, hear or see something, it exists, right? Well, Ralph Waldo Emerson questioned, in his essay entitled Nature: Chapter IV, Idealism “In my utter impotence to test the authenticity of the report of my senses, to know whether the impressions they make on me correspond with outlying objects, what difference does it make, whether Orion is up there in heaven, or some god paints the image in the firmament of the soul?” His question forces us to consider, does our perception create reality, or is reality based on our perceptions?

Religious individuals rely on faith and personal experience to explain their devotion. Disbelievers counter that faith is no basis for belief, as it cannot be proven. But what is proof if our perceptions cannot be trusted? Is the certainty of our physical existence and environment anything more than faith in the accuracy of our perceptions? We can look at a pine tree, remark on its height, smell its scent, and run our hands over the rough bark and say, “This is solid, I can see it, this is called 'pine tree'”. But what if our hands lie, our eyes are faulty and our sense of smell an illusion? Can the senses be trusted to reflect the true existence of reality as we perceive it?

Consider this: is everyone, everything, every facet of our lives real? What if it's not? One argument is that if several people agree that a rock is a rock, isn't it then a rock in reality? What if everything and everyone is a figment of one's imagination? That would suggest man as creator of his reality, and so the people and objects in it should be in agreement on what is and what is not. There are endless possibilities and configurations for our environment if the world exists only in the mind.

So, working under the assertion that our physical environment is the creation of the the one who perceives it, does that make the him or her God? Does reality originate with him or her? Is it possible that each of us is simply a player in another individuals' universe and not individuals ourselves? This idea actually plays perfectly into the idea of an all-powerful, omniscient and omnipresent God as our creator. Is that creator you? Or your neighbor? Or some being outside our perception who is running the show?

In the movie The Truman Show starring Jim Carrey, the main character has been living on a television set since birth and has no knowledge that the world he lives in is a fabrication of the television network. He has no idea that millions have watched him his entire life and that the people and environment he calls home are not what he perceives them to be. This disconcerting situation is a wonderful example of humankind's persistent question: Why am I here? What is my purpose? It explains our perseverance to scientifically and intellectually examine our world to find answers about all aspects of “reality”. We are driven to prove reality.

And so, to return to Emerson, “what difference does it make...?”, is the pivotal question when trying to explain and examine our existence. Does it matter? Does it matter if life as we perceive it is real, or if it is a fabrication of solitary or even collective belief? Whether or not Emerson's existential reflections are accurate, one must admit, they may be. And whether or not he is right in his suggestion that we cannot trust our senses, there is really no other option. We can question our existence, we can consider our origins, and we can choose to have faith in where we came from and why we are here. In the end, all we can do, regardless, is function within our perceptions. It's all we have.