Aweh dearly beloved fellow ruminants & groupies
So, what is this thing called objective reality? Does it exist? The first time I confronted the concept was when I was 18 and in my matric year at St Stithians. I was Captain of the chess team, and our top chess player was a slight 14-year-old maths prodigy called Andrew Nicolaysen. He could multiply four-digit numbers in his head in the time it took you to punch the numbers into a calculator and calculate the answer. He was also very fond of philosophical concepts and insisted that the entire universe and everything in it was imaginary and that nothing really existed. At this point, a burly boy lower down on the chess ladder marched up to him and said, “How about I use my imaginary foot to kick your imaginary shin?”. And so, my own journey of thinking about objective reality began. No shin-kicking happened, and no one was harmed in the writing of this blog.
So how is objective reality defined? Of course, ChatGPT knows, “Objective reality refers to the existence of an external world that exists independently of our perception or interpretation of it. It suggests that there is a factual and observable reality that exists regardless of our subjective experiences or beliefs”. There are very few things I am sure about, but this probably comes the closest. Objective reality is uncaring and entirely unconcerned with you or all of humanity.
We are a very insignificant part of objective reality. Taking some time out in nature far away from our artificial lives in the city dominated by politics, groupthink, and industrial quantities of bullshit is one way to bring you back to earth. The featured photograph was taken by my friend, Cavan Hill, in one of our annual walks in a remote part of the Kruger Park far away from the rest of humanity. On a moonless clear winter night our galaxy, the Milky Way, is clearly visible. The image shows about ten thousand stars, like our sun. It is a tiny fraction of the more than one hundred billion stars in our galaxy. Our galaxy in turn is just one of more than a hundred billion galaxies in the observable universe. The human species is about 200 000 years old, and the universe is 14.3 billion years old. How is that for objective reality?
This image is my screensaver and serves to remind me every day of my place in the universe and to remind me that my lived experience is not that important in the greater scheme of things. No amount of storytelling, trauma, or lived experiences can shield us from that harsh beast called objective reality.
Only a few days ago our esteemed minister of electricity crowed about how load-shedding was now reducing and this was the start of the eradication of load-shedding. Then objective reality intervened, as it has a pesky habit of doing, and today we are without power for eleven hours and this is now forecast to continue for the foreseeable future. We also have no water. I get a lot more wisdom and insight from Uber drivers than government ministers. Uber drivers live in the real world unshielded from objective reality.
All of us live in our own heads and create our own narratives and our own model of how the world works. If this model is detached from objective reality, then at some point objective reality may intervene and deliver a rude shock. The problem is that many people are shielded from objective reality for a long time and potentially for most of their lives. The wealthier and more powerful you are the more you can insulate yourself from the real world and live in a dream world. The Uber driver confronts harsh reality every day. The electricity minister lives in a government-provided house with no load shedding, bodyguards, and a blue light brigade who ignore the traffic regulations and assault people who get in their way with impunity. He can live in his dream world and talk shit for years.
It is not only politicians who can live in a dream world but also senior executives who have designated parking next to the executive lift and are surrounded by sycophantic admirers. Depending on the level of delusion involved the senior executives are not always shielded from objective reality forever. If you do lots of dumb stuff and waste lots of money objective reality eventually knocks at the door. Perhaps politely at first but then just bashes the door down and gets rid of you. At the bottom of the dominance hierarchy, the feedback loop is quick and brutal. You cannot stay in a delusional world for long. At the top, it is only when your detour away from objective reality becomes so severe and prolonged that you are forced to confront the consequences.
Something interesting and scary is now unfolding in America. The America First Movement is readying the necessary personnel and policies for a second Trump presidency. Why do I say this is scary? Am I perhaps not exaggerating? Four thousand political appointees are now being vetted for a Trump administration. Their social media is being scrutinised and if you had anything negative to say about the ransacking of the Capitol in 2021 or the notion that Biden stole the election you are disqualified. People who either deny objective reality or worse will say whatever is expedient to get ahead are being selected. People will be selected based on their loyalty to Trump. Only sycophants will be appointed. Will this end well? Dearly beloved readers I will leave you to judge that.
It is not only politicians and the rich and the powerful who are shielded from objective reality. If you want to live in a dream world then academia and the clergy offer rich opportunities. As an academic, you can get an income for life and be completely unbothered by that nasty beast called objective reality. Although the pressure to publish, even if it is rubbish, might be a form of objective reality.
Although you may be able to hide from objective reality for your whole life no one escapes from it in the end. You will age and your health will deteriorate at some point. Your doctor is going to give you a harsh dose of objective reality one day unless you die suddenly from a heart attack or stroke or in an accident. In the end, objective reality wins.
Thank you for all the ideas and comments. I really appreciate them and please keep them coming.
Regards
Bruce
Ruminant Pink Friday 