How do we know what is real?

This is a fascinating question because it deals with mostly philosophy. Some philosophers questioned the idea that we are in a real world. They proposed that our senses are being deceived and that what we think is reality is only a dream. Shakespeare wrote that: We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep. I'm sure that he meant that our lives are often built on dreams and that we awaken to reality, not dreams. At least that's my take on that.

In a way, the philosophers were partially right. As it turns out, our brains affect what we perceive to be reality. Everything that we see, hear and touch is a product of how our brains process signals from our five main senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste, and they are not quite what we think they are.

You have to keep in mind that these senses evolved in order for our ancestors to survive in a violent world. Having eyes and ears made it much easier to find prey and avoid being some other creature's dinner.

As you may know, our eye lenses focus an image that's upside down and reversed on our retinas. Our brain makes it look right side up and the right orientation. Actually, what we see is a product of the eye's sensitivity to light. We only see electromagnetic energy in the visible spectrum from blue, to red. The color of objects is created by frequencies of white light being absorbed and reflecting the rest. If an object absorbs blue, the object will look red. We do not see infrared and ultraviolet, yet energy in those parts of the spectrum is all around us.

The other consideration is the fact that we humans are in the middle of the range of sizes in the universe, and it affects how we perceive things around us. If we were small like an atom, the universe would look a lot different. The same could be said if we were as large as our solar system. This is one of the reasons we humans have trouble understanding the very tiny and the very large. That's why we had to create instruments to even observe these extremes. The microscope revealed the tiny nature of the bacteria and viruses and the telescope revealed the vastness of the universe.

It's a good thing we are the size we are. As you might know, the atom is actually mostly space. The nucleus is very tiny compared to the size of the electron shell that surrounds it. If you could imagine a marble being the nucleus of an atom and you held it in the middle of a football stadium, the electrons would be out at the peripheral of the stadium. In other words, atoms are essentially nearly empty. The electrons orbiting the nucleus move so fast they make the atom appear large. Since the electrons orbiting an atomic nucleus are negatively charged, they repel other atoms. This is why material objects appear to be solid. It's actually an illusion, but a very effective one. This illustrates how we think of things is affected by our size and the way our senses work. I will explore more on this subject later.

The main reason that I've written this is to point out that extraterrestrial alien intelligent beings may perceive the world in a different way, a way that could be alien to us. Take the dolphins and whales. Their perception of reality is alien to us. They employ echolocation to navigate in their liquid universe. Some scientists believe that the Cetaceans perceive their environment in a single comprehensive 3D image instead of in serially perceived pieces and parts like we do. The scientists believe this because of the way that Dolphins can easily do tricks with balls and find fish while they are swimming wildly. Dolphins have their eyes on the sides of their head and don't see like we do. Since they have large brains like us it's difficult to understand how intelligent they are. They may be as intelligent as we are but since they live mostly in the sea, it's difficult for us to understand them. I suggest that this could be the case with alien intelligence.

Obviously, God gave us the wherewithal to function in our environment. We have the ability to question our existence and what it really means to exist. This is something that no other creature on Earth can do. We are special and our place in the universe is special. Otherwise we wouldn't be here. We're not a product of some cosmic accident. We have a purpose.

The reason I wanted to discuss this issue is because it's necessary to understand how we perceive the universe we're in. We're affected by the way our brains process signals from our senses and the way our brains actually work. All of this is a result of a very complicated evolutionary process. Reality is much more complicated than we think, but it is real. We are not a figment of someone's imagination or even a product of our dreams. However, we have a long way to go to understand what we really are and what our place is in the universe.

Thanks for reading.