The Illusion of Reality
We think of reality as something solid, fixed, and external to ourselves. Neuroscience contradicts this notion. Let’s start with considering the visual system. Did you know that you don’t see with your eyes? Your eyes are like a camera; they transmit what you’re looking at to the visual processing center in the back of your brain. Your brain then takes these signals and constructs an image of what has been transmitted through the eyes. Your brain then attaches meaning to this image based on your past experiences. Let’s say you have a fear of snakes and you see a stick on the ground as you’re walking. This could cause you to instinctively react as your brain interprets this image as a snake. Another person who isn’t afraid of snakes would not have the same reaction to the stick. This is just one example of how our brains interpret the meaning of what we see. The point is that we construct and interpret what we see with our brain. Everyone’s interpretation of what they are seeing and “reality” is different, and that reality is in fact illusory. Neuroscientist Anil Seth explains more in this video.
More compelling evidence of the illusory nature of reality comes from the experiences of stroke victims. They have profound changes of how they experience reality due to the changes in their brains during a stroke. Below is a video by Jill Bolte-Taylor, a neuroscientist who talks about her experience when she had a stroke. During the stroke she had a totally different experience of “reality”. She felt that her body merged with her surroundings and could no longer tell where her body ended. She describes this as feeling expansive like she was one with the rest of the universe. She calls this la-la land and says she experienced nirvana. Even after she recovered from the stroke she continued to experience the illusory nature of reality.
One of my favorite authors, Robert Greene had a similar experience when he suffered a stroke. He also experienced profound changes in his sense of time and space, feeling like he was outside his body watching what was happening to him from above. Like Dr. Taylor, his stroke changed him in ways that he continued to experience even after he recovered. His experience of reality was forever altered, as he now sees that reality is actually an illusion.
So what do we make of these experiences? I think it’s important to understand that reality isn’t solid and fixed. For me this has helped me a lot in dealing with stressful experiences since I know that stress comes from inside me rather than from the experience itself. Next comes the realization that since all the stress is being generated in my brain, I have the power to change my experience by simply changing my thoughts about what is happening. This opens up the possibility of seeing things differently, which is immensely empowering. With this understanding we can cease being victims, and understand that we have the power to change our mind about almost anything. Every day I witness this happening with my patients through NIS (The Neurological Integration System). NIS has the power to literally rewire the brain, and that in turn can make big changes in how we experience “reality”.
