More Thoughts on Reality

~ "____________ is a hypothetical medium through which one individual interacts with another hypothetical individual." ~

You could fill in the blank with "Reality," or you could fill it in with "The English language," and either one works perfectly. But why don't we ever talk about whether the English language exists? ~

I have to say, I take a linguistic view when it comes to reality. Reality exists by definition: reality is that which exists. Now, someone might call that circular reasoning, but such a one needs to reconcile himself to the existence of dictionaries. There are certain things that do not depend on logical argument for their validity, and the set denotative value of a common English word is one of them. There is no reason and there need be no reason why "cow" means cow, why "thimble" means thimble, why "reality" means reality.

Reality is simply what we call all of this. Calling reality illusion may be an attempt at cleverness or paradox, but really all it shows is that you don't know how to use either word properly in a sentence. It isn't a sign of enlightenment, it's a sign of mental confusion.

Now, whether "all of this" might in some way not be all it seems...well, okay! Could be. Whether there may be some greater Fact behind it all, something that we can't yet see, something so much more transcendentally substantial that by comparison with it, our known reality would seem a mere shadow or wisp of vapors...! Could be. Or maybe our world is a computer simulation from an alien realm, or a dream dreamt by sleeping Chthonic gods...could be.

Who cares, though? I mean, such things are fun to think about, but they don't change the true nature of reality - reality as we mean it. It's our word, it's a very straightforward word: it means what we mean by it. It means what we mean through it - two people, interacting through reality, discussing it using words, using language. And really, humans using English are by and large quite united in the concept of what "reality" denotes, of what the common and accepted sense of the word reality is. With the exception of a few goofballs who (if they were honest with themselves) would probably admit they're speaking more metaphorically anyhow, people understand reality to refer to that zone between us and around us that resolutely remains between us and around us - stubbornly, serenely regardless of all our arguments concerning reality.

It doesn't matter to me whether reality itself "exists" or not, in any greater sense. It exists in the common and usual sense. I will prefer the common and usual sense, which is known, to a greater sense which is entirely hypothetical. Spare me your coy Buddhist evasions, your negation of others disguised as self-abnegation, your koan jobs. It's cowardice. It's a backing down from what we already know to be true. Even if we believe there's something else - something greater! - that doesn't mean that this is a jot less valid than we have already found it to be.

Yes, Virginia. We all know what reality is, and what it means. It surrounds us, and we fill it up. Many of us differ in our interpretations of it, but it takes a rank solipsist to deny the basic, shared, experiential aspect of that world - which is what we call reality.