Originally posted by DA Morgan:
And if the paperclip was discovered by a grain of sand that blew up to it and was stopped in its path ... would not the paperclip still exist?
Tagore isn't denying that there is some ultimate reality which manifests itself as a table (or paper clip) to us. I was talking about this with my wife last night; and to simplify the example, I brought up the old question, ?If a tree falls in the forest, and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?? She went for yes, so we had a good argument. I finally won by looking up the definition of sound, and also pointing out that no one is denying that there is some ultimate effect of a tree falling (but the effect is only ?sound? to the brain; it is just a gust of air to a nearby leaf, or a large earthquake to a nearby beetle, or a change in the direction of gravity for a developing egg withing the tree). As Tagore says, ?The table which I perceive is perceptible by the same kind of consciousness [any 4D perceptually oriented self-consciousness] which I possess.?
Tagore's music/literature analogy is more interesting, because it juxtaposes temporal and physical perceptions instead of just physical perceptions. I still think they both would be in agreement on the nature of reality except that Tagore has the static perspective that reality is defined by perceptions now.
?There is the reality of paper, infinitely different from the reality of literature.?
?For the kind of mind possessed by the moth which eats that paper literature is absolutely non-existent.?
Well, that 'infinitely different,' 'absolutely non-existent' reality is all true for ?now;? but I think Einstein might ask, 'what if the literature someday saves the life of the moth species?' That literature is also a reality for the moth, even if it doesn't realize it.
Tagore isn't saying your paper clip is just a dream based on our brains, but that its true manifestation is unknowable (therefore 'non-existent' -to us).
Einstein sees the paper clip's true manifestation as potentially knowable, therefore extant (even if it's not really a paper clip).
I'm a bit uncomfortable putting words in the mouths of such famous people, especially at 3am; so I may need to edit this tomorrow if I've completely mixed things up or gone off on a tangent.
Now if Schroedinger's Cat was on Einstein's Table, then we'd have a real problem!
Cheers!
~samcat
