What is a Model of Reality?

This is where I get to pretend to be buddhist and attempt to hit you with some mind blowing concepts. You know, the zen monk smacking his student with a sandal until he reaches enlightenment...

But in my reality, I expect most people know this stuff already, or have encountered it in some fashion. So i'll leave my own assumptions at the door and go forward..

Definitions

Model. What is it?

The closest defintion that matches is;

mod·el [ módd'l ]

noun (plural mod·els) 1. copy of object: a copy of an object, especially one made on a smaller scale than the original ( often used before a noun )

What is Reality?

reality re.al.i.ty \re--'al-*t-e-\ noun 1: the quality or state of being real 2a1: a real event, entity, or state of affairs 2a2: the totality of real things and events 2b: something that is neither derivative nor dependent but exists necessarily

I like a definition that uses the root word right there in the middle of it. Why of course, reality is the quality or state of being REAL! hahahahaha.

When people mention models of reality, they are often using the word model in more af a "theory" way;

the·o·ry (plural the·o·ries) noun 1. rules and techniques: the body of rules, ideas, principles, and techniques that applies to a subject, especially when seen as distinct from actual practice

2. scientific principle to explain phenomena: a set of facts, propositions, or principles analyzed in their relation to one another and used, especially in science, to explain phenomena

The thing to keep in mind is...

that a model of reality is like a map of the world. While it can help you navigate your way around unknown territory, it is not the actual territory. Looking up from the map and noticing landmarks and scanning "what you see" can often help in terms of finding out where you are.

In that regard, a model should be used as needed and discarded when it no longer suits it's initial purpose.

So, here is the buddhist part... the finger pointing at the moon...

Which is to say that...

while a globe of the earth is not the earth, the earth is not reality. It too is a map. It is Maya. And so we begin to look up and explore... Enjoy

Illusion

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_%28illusion%29

Maya_(Hinduism) In Vedic philosophy, maya (Sanskrit: ma: not, ya: this) is the limited, purely physical and mental reality in which our everyday consciousness has become entangled. Maya is believed to be an illusion, a veiling of the true, unitary Self, also known as Brahman. Maya originated in the Hindu scriptures known as the Upanishads. Many philosphies or religions seek to "pierce the veil" in order to glimpse the transcendent truth, from which the illusion of a physical reality springs, drawing from the idea that first came to life in the Hindu stream of Vedanta.

see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maya_%28Hinduism%29

Allegory of the Caves

or if you have a more Western bent to your philosophy. Plato's Allegory of the cave;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave

Imagine prisoners who have been chained since childhood deep inside a cave. Not only are their limbs immobilized by the chains; their heads are chained as well so that their eyes are fixed on a wall.

Behind the prisoners is an enormous fire, and between the fire and the prisoners is a raised walkway, along which shapes of various animals, plants, and other things are carried. The shapes cast shadows on the wall, which occupy the prisoners' attention. When one of the shape-carriers speaks, an echo against the wall causes the prisoners to believe that the words come from the shadows.

The prisoners engage in what appears to us to be a game - naming the shapes as they come by. This, however, is the only reality that they know, even though they are seeing merely shadows of images.

Suppose a prisoner is released and compelled to stand up and turn around.

His eyes will be blinded by the firelight, and the shapes passing will appear less real than their shadows.

Similarly, if he is dragged up out of the cave into the sunlight, his eyes will be so blinded that he will not be able to see anything.

At first, he will be able to see darker shapes such as shadows and, only later, brighter and brighter objects.

The last object he would be able to see is the sun, which, in time, he would learn to see as that object which provides the seasons and the courses of the year, presides over all things in the visible region, and is in some way the cause of all these things that he has seen (The Republic bk. VII, 516b-c; trans. Paul Shorey).

This part of the allegory, incidentally, closely matches Plato's metaphor of the sun which occurs near the end of The Republic, Book VI.

Once enlightened, so to speak, the freed prisoner would no doubt want to return to the cave to free "his fellow bondsmen". The problem, however, lies in the other prisoners' not wanting to be freed: descending back into the cave would require that the freed prisoner's eyes adjust again, and for a time, he would be one of the identifying shapes on the wall. This would make his fellow prisoners murderous toward anyone who attempted to free them.

When dealing with Models of Reality...

-- AnarchistU - 18 May 2006