What is reality?

Well, the answer might not be as simple as you think it is. One may assume that reality is something that has happened or something that is taking place in real life. If you think that this is what reality is, then you are only partially correct.

The more robust and complete definition would be something like, the reality is not only anything and everything that happens in real-time or has happened in real life but also how a person sees that event and perceives it. The first instance is known as objective reality and the latter is known as subjective reality.

Should not reality only be objective?

Ideally yes, but that is not the case. The perception of reality is very much real. How you see an event or an individual is very real and this fact effects and affects reality as well. Let me explain to you with an example.

There is a flower in a shop. It is a rose. It is red in colour. It has thorns on it. It has a distinct smell. All of these factors are objective realities as no matter what, these factors are universal to anyone and everyone who sees that flower.

Now let's say two people are viewing that flower. Let them be Aaron and David. Aaron may think that the rose is beautiful, it has a very sweet smell, and it will be a perfect gift for his girlfriend on Valentine's Day. But David might think, the flower has thorns in it, the smell is very meek and not so pleasant and the colour red is not a great colour. Hence, it will not be a good present to give to his mother on Mother’s Day.

So although both of them were looking at the same flower at the same shop, their idea of the flower was different. And none of them is in the wrong. For them, it is the reality. The only difference is that their reality depends on a number of factors apart from the fact of what is actually happening.

Aaron was looking for a flower for his girlfriend, while David was looking for a flower for his mother. Aaron likes flashy colours while David likes subtle colours more. Also, Aaron focused on the beauty of the flower as it was for a romantic purpose, while David focused on the thorns as it might be difficult for his mother to see the thorns because of her old age.

Is it something worth discussing?

From my subjective reality, yes. It is very important to differentiate between subject reality and objective reality when it comes to decision-making. We must understand the difference between what is actually happening and what we think is happening. If every time there was a problem and we asked ourselves the question that which part of it is subjective and which part of it is objective, we would be surely making more sound decisions.

A good example would be how most news channels cover a piece of news these days. Let’s say that there has been a murder in a village. In that village, the number of Hindus hugely outnumbers the number of Muslims. This is the objective part of the news. Now comes the media outlets. One channel can say that there has been a murder in the village because of religious intolerance. Another channel might say that there has been a political murder in the village.

Now what happens is that the objective reality is often missed out while portraying a subjective reality. So if someone is served such news or faces such a situation, it becomes tough to take the right decision as the objective reality cannot be differentiated from the subjective reality.

This is one of the major dilemmas that one faces while making a decision. You are often fed the subjective reality of someone else as the objective reality and as a result, you are misguided and end up making bad decisions on the basis of it.

Another very appropriate and trending example would be the topic of gender in today’s world. It is a sensitive topic but it is a very good example of objective and subjective reality. Let's say that a person, who is born with XY set of chromosomes, has a male reproductive organ and has high levels of testosterone in his body. This is the objective reality.

Now, let’s say that he chooses to be identified as a woman, a very typical scenario that happens quite often, especially in Western society. Now this is a subjective reality that the person who chooses to identify as a woman decides to believe in. But that does not make it an objective reality. The objective reality still remains that he is born a male with all necessary male biological features.

Now, I am not saying that it is wrong to do so or that we should harass those people who choose to be in that subjective reality. But we must understand one thing, it is not necessary for someone to believe in someone else’s reality. There may be a disagreement. We can’t impose our reality onto someone else and force them to believe it.

And at the same time, if someone’s reality has nothing to do with you or does not affect you in any way, then it is a wise decision to let them exist in that reality. But the problem usually arises when one tries to impose something on the other and the other resists believing it. This is what is happening in most of America and European nations.

Subjective reality should ideally always arise from objective reality. You must always know the FACTS before drawing any conclusion. You cannot draw a conclusion from someone else’s conclusion. That makes absolutely no sense. Yes, you can for sure know the facts and refer to the conclusions of other people to develop a conclusion of your own which might or might not be unique.

Another reason why I believe why discussing the difference between objective reality and subjective reality is important is because of the fact that it helps you stay calm and composed during times of need and makes you see through different perspectives of the world.

Conclusion

Understanding objective reality is very important in the process of identifying the self as well. When you are able to tell apart objective and subjective realities, you start understanding the dynamics of your mentality. You will start to question when you were provided with a fact, why you chose to come up with this conclusion and not anything else. Well, that’s a whole different topic which is a discussion of another article.

It is often pretty tough to tell apart objective and subjective realities. But a good approach towards solving that problem will be not taking hasty decisions or believing everything you hear. This does not mean that you will think that everyone is trying to befool you, but rather, you choose to be in a reality that you have created and not somebody else.

You get to live in your own reality that you have created after considering the facts and the events that have actually taken place. Then, the differences between you and other people will be that you have at least got to know what the objective reality was and secondly,

You will be able to lead a life with more clarity, better decision-making sense and in fact, closer to the reality.

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