Reality? What a concept!

[Adam Blatner]

Responding to Anath's comment (see below in darker typeface), I'm reminded of the line "Reality? What a concept!" It was said with a snort of derisive laughter by Mork (a fictional character, an extra-terrestrial from the planet Mongo I think it was), played by Robin Williams in the 1970s in a television series, Mork and Mindy. More recent takes on this theme include the series Third Rock from the Sun.  I like that line, it fits my postmodern sensibility and my leaps into playfulness.

   
    Thus, Anath's line (or was it Peter's) that Most ideas are an approximation of reality anyway... AB: So a postmodernist might say that there is no reality, the phrase "there is" implying an externally existent dynamic, apart from the interpreting mind, an objective truth for all time and space and all people---or beyond people. I might concede that there are many realities such as the existence of this chair or 2 + 2 = 4, but these are trivial. Non-trivial realities operate very much within a matrix of meanings, semantics, linguistics, etc.

   Also, there are all sorts of variations of ideas that aren't even approximations---such as ideas that have to do with clearly fictional if not nonsensical creations, and the fun in that endeavor... 

    Anyway, Anath said, "Just to make it more clear: all ideas are hypothetical statements about reality."
 AB: Two associations: 64% of people presenting their ideas don't recognize that they are hypothetical, provisional, and rather confuse ideas and beliefs and ultimate truths. This is a mixture of egocentricity and a lack of critical thinking in the curriculum. 
          Of course, what Anath is getting at is a more humble awareness of the fragility of most ideas, and I agree that we should be inclined to take ideas in this more critical sense.

   Anath: Therefore whatever methods we use to understand the reality a person/s operates in present (verb, to present) a possibility of help when requested.   AB: If I understand this, we start with trying to bring forth the client's reality, helping the client to appreciate it more fully, deeply, and work from there. Yes? 

AG Wishing you an enjoyable Conference. Best, anath    AB: What, won't you be there? 
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