Do we only know what is happening once it has happened?
I was thinking about this the other day, and it was just too conceptually gigantic/intense for me to wrap my brain around. So I brought it here.
I really don't know what brought me to this question, but I find that acting out both possibilities in my head is a bit like trying to stay on the cutting edge of time. The basic question is: Do you know what is happening the instant it happens, or do we require time, no matter how small an amount it is, to know what is going on? Can we infer what is happening from the events of the past of a few seconds ago, and do we instantly recognize things and understand them as they happen? Or, do we constantly lag behind time, our real selves ahead of our brains in time, in a short span of time where we are in a state of utter confusion? Speaking of confusion, I'm confused.
Help me out with this:
Yes, I think so.
Side Score: 4
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No, that's not true.
Side Score: 8
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For starters, no matter how you experience something, it takes time for your brain to realize what your senses are experiencing. It is very quick, but your eyes need to send information to your brain and your tongue needs to send tastes to your brain. Neither of these is instantaneous, but happens in a fraction of a second. After this, I think as humans we take a little bit of time to process this information in our heads. So I think we only know what is happening after it has happened, but only by a split second. Side: Yes, I think so.
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You read my mind. I was about to start a debate kind of like this: http://www.createdebate.com/debate/show/ Side: Yes, I think so.
I don’t know how long it takes for the most nimble thinker to infer a thought. I can tell you this though, the thought process of such will not exceed the speed of light; light is not instantaneous. For if light is instantaneous it would have no velocity. Side: Yes it can't be otherwise
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That's one of the most interesting things I've thought about for awhile. I'm not sure anyone knows enough about the way the brain works to know for sure. But it seems like, outside of the time it takes for senses to bring information to the brain then our brain to translate that information into something that makes sense to us, I'm not sure we ever really know what just happened. I think at a young age our mind begins making connections between events and things that may or may not have relevance to the real physical world (like someone who takes lsd may hear a color, that color's not making any noise in real life, but at some point a connection had been made in the mind, and so they experience this) At some level, I believe everything we observe has irrelevant connections in our brain, not to the extent of one who is high, but it is there none the less. Seeing a tree fall for example, if one is a hippy, they see that event in a completely different light than say a lumberjack, one sees death, the other a paycheck. They both see a tree fall, but the event has been filtered differently. What has just happened, certainly did happen and both know as much, but I don't think either is really aware of it completely ever. Side: No, that's not true.
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I know, it's an interesting thought, isn't it? It's funny you mention hearing colors. Me and some friends were talking about something and the conversation morphed into a talk about using different senses for things we don't consider being within the scope of those senses. You know, seeing taste, smelling color, hearing touch, etc. That was another interesting concept. But yeah, thanks for your input. I like this statement (And now that I thought about it for a minute... More confusion) I agree. I'm not sure we ever really know what just happened. Side: No, that's not true.
Because of my hearing loss, I actually "hear" what I see. But most of the time, I'm not really hearing it all, my mind is processing it as a certain sound... perhaps from when I've heard it before in childhood. I also process most things I hear at a slower pace than normal. Someone can speak to me and if I'm actually putting in the effort to understand them, it'll usually take me 30 seconds to a minute, sometimes longer, to process what they actually said since I know that what I usually hear right away isn't correct. Otherwise, I understand what you're getting it, but how we process it and what we perceive of it is all about how we grew up and the abilities we have available. Side: No, that's not true.
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