how does color perception work? physically, we are told what happens as our eyes dilate and how color is perceived by the eyes. but why can we imagine color in our sleep when we are certainly not “seeing” the colors, rather knowing what it would look like?

let’s take green for an example. i can point out objects made of green. you can too. many of those objects that we see would be identicle. both of us would point out that grass is green, as would almost anyone (except for the dorks who are being a pain and talking about the changes in season). regardless, we both see green. but what if i borrowed your eyes? would your green be the same as my green? would my brain perceive your eyes’ view of the grass as green? or would your green equal my purple?

we are trained to see grass as green and plums as purple. we accept that forever more, colors similar to that of grass will be green and that which looks like plums will be purple. it allows us to label, classify and describe objects based on the perception that they give off to us.

the same goes with all senses. we determine hot based on some past experience with hot and based on a universal reaction to hot- jumping away from the object and possible pain. maybe hot feels different to different people. maybe sound is perceived differently. an object does not give off sound; an object gives off waves of energy and our ears turn that into a sound for our brains to perceive. for that reason, a question often arises: when a gree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

does an object possess its characteristics of temperature, color, sound, etc? why do we feel it necessary to intellectualize such givens? why do we have to label things, describe them and classify them in order to accept them? why can’t we just take such givens and accept the object without thinking about the implications?

we as a society rely so heavily on words- for the most part they are the sole way in which we communicate. many other societies also use body movements and expressions to express what they are thinking. if we cannot verbally describe it, most other people in our society do not understand us. masters of the language fare well in our society even if there body language gives off evil airs. only those extremely close to us understand every little body movement we make. our dependence on words truly limits us.

for this reason, our society also has a problem with cliches and other common phrases. they are said so often that they no longer have meaning to us. most of these phrases include verbs that do not have direct meaning. one common phrase whose meaning disipates over time is “i love you.” we love so many things- parents, lovers, children, friends, chocolate… are theses loves at all similar? they are not but yet we use the same phrase for them, diluding the meaning. what is love? there is no direct meaning for it, so one person can say it to another with different feelings. lovers have to depend on body reactions to that type of saying since the words alone mean little. the first time it is said, there is a flutter in the heart and ecstacy in the head but that wanes if it is repeated daily.

why do words mean so much to us? why must we use them to communicate? how can we back away from our attachment to words? this seems like a very difficult problem to me…

i attended my first group meditation tonite. what an effect that had on my perception of everything around me. although the “lecture” sounded like what i had read, it was far more meaningful in person. first, we sat for about 5 minutes and then two masters spoke about meditations and discussed bob dylan’s reaction to the world- explaining that you must love what you do and do it because you love it. after the quick discussion, the masters opened the discussion up to questions. different students asked their burning thoughts and the masters answered them directly. it was utterly intriguing and helpful. i was entirely impressed and most definitely ecstatic!

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