Category: Philosopher comments on Reality

What we perceive IS or IS NOT reality?

…But a Name Makes it Real?

On By Pamala CliftIn Business, Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

My name is…

The “What is Real?” question about virtual existence has brought about tons of questionable aspects of our real life.

Names: What are names? Well if you pay the right people and fill out the right documents…”Poof” you now have a REAL company because it has a unique NAME! Did it exist before? Well, yeah you were working on it for awhile before you decided you wanted to be official. So giving it a NAME makes it real.

Back in the farming days people raised animals. I remember being told NOT to name the animals that were destined to be on the table, because you can not eat a pet. Naming an animal made it a real entity not just a future dinner.

Naming is a very powerful intimate association. It sets the level of engagement between two people. If someone you don’t know comes up to you and says “Mr. Smith great to have you with us today”, you respond in a formal mode. That addressed-name gave you your interaction path.

However, if someone you don’t know comes up to you and calls you by your first name and slaps you on the back, you instantly start racking your brain for any past association with this individual that would bring it into the familiar. You have again been given an interaction path. 

So when you create something, a drawing, painting, poem, song, product, a lot rests on that name, because it will announce how the expected interaction path should go.

Online we take new names. These new names are meant also to direct our interactions. They tell in advance if you want to be considered in a certain strata of society. PunkRocker, DumbBlonde, VetReturned, SmackMyAss, ProfessorKnowItAll, QueenofAll, PriestofEverything…so many ways of naming our envisionment of ourselves.

Just like in real life those lovely titles that people add to their names is suppose to give a certain framework in another’s perceptions.

These are only aspects of us; not us in entirety. We are called by many different names and respond differently to each. If someone addresses you as Pastor Bob, there is a list of characteristics and mannerisms that you pull from a file in your head that says this is how I interact.

However, when you get home and your wife says, “Come here lover.” you pull from a whole different folder. Does that mean only the one with the official name is real? 

They ALL are Real because they are names you accept as a folder composite of your characteristics. 

So is the name you use online real? If you accept it as real. If others know what perceived interactions are associated with that name, it is just as much a real folder composite of you as any of your other names.

My question to you is? At what point in time and what selection of folders will you bring into the entity that you are designing as the final YOU.

Discard the names that you do not identify with. If your childhood name was pee-pants, that is no longer you. Do the examination of all your folder names as you work toward the guru’s advice of being one and whole.

Whatever final composite of you that you create, examine it. Don’t let others choose your names unless that is an interaction you wish to embrace. You do have the final control over that package. Enjoy the exploration.

Hugs, Pam (The Roadside Philosopher)

We do not live for Reality; We live for our Fantasies.

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal Relationships, Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

…and they lived happily ever after.

What is true about our dreams? …About comic books? …About making Barbie talk to her doll friends? …About having your action heros save the day? …About watching a movie? …Reading a novel? …Seeing art or visualizing reality in a different way through music or touch?

All creativity is intrinsically valuable and it can make us happy, sad or introspective. The very components that we value as humans are materially NOT Real. Courage, Loyalty, Peace, Creativity, Beauty, Love, Challenge, Wonder etc. are Not touchable in this material world? 

Many of these things that we value and can not touch we have made a representation for in this material world, but are still not really touchable themselves. Music, writing, math, ideas are all non-material but we work like crazy on those items trying to show what contains our real passion. 

Watching a garden grow has its own intrinsic value even if the crop doesn’t quite work out, the process intrigues us and makes us happy. We wonder, ponder and that is where we reap joy. Questions, not answers, engage happiness.

If you think about it, very little of the material world makes us happy for very long at all. All material information or things do not trigger in us anything more than a temporary satisfaction. 

When we look back on our life, we might say “That was a sweet ride.” of a car we owned, but was it the car or the girl you got into the car that made it sweet? If everyone else thought it an ugly car would it have been as valuable. The components of this real life are validated by the non-real.

The identity of humanity does not lie in the material world. 

The material world IS the game! We judge if we are winning by the $ we get just like points. We might count our popularity polls or the votes we can get, but we are aware that all of these things are transitory. They can shift at any moment. 

So how and why do we persist in stating as derogatory that “something is not real”?  “Not Real” contains the most value in our search for happiness and satisfaction.

It seems sad that we are not allowed to express our childlike thrills unless given a material spacial-excuse for such behavior. You can only be silly or crazy at a party, bar, or a specially allocated location designated to say you’re allowed to fantasize, such as a theme park or interactive play.

When we get up in the morning we do not live for coffee, the news, hygiene rituals, laundry or traffic; We live for the conception of the future that is currently a dream…vacation, weight loss, finding love, retirement, saving the world, going on tv or any other illusion that gives our life a goal and a meaning that sends our mind into fantasy. 

It is one of my favorite statements now and I say it often, when someone states what is truly not real. 

We do not live for reality; We live for out fantasy! Enjoy Yours!

Hugs, Pam (The Roadside Philsopher

Information Credibility vs State of Being

On By Pamala CliftIn Education, Philosopher comments on Reality, Society, UncategorizedLeave a comment

What is true?

Since I am constantly examining “What is Real?” in the digital environment I have to explore tons of websites that claim credibility.

By what credentials does a website become valid? If I was Google I most likely would go by the USA standard culture of what is right and wrong. That would mean science and data from academia, government sites and traditional medicine would be higher rated…BUT.

I have worked in government and academia and they truly don’t know any more than the man on the street often times. Someone, somewhere collects data from imperfect sources (usually a survey from some regular people) and instantly THAT becomes the final word. Rarely is that data traced back to its source or method. That means that a question asking you to select A or B, or rate something will likely not fit exactly your experience, but that doesn’t matter. Once you have made a selection “Numbers are GOD”. 

Nobody has real access to everyone, even Google. They can access what you choose to say, view and engage with online, but not everyone puts their true thoughts online, many have a facade.

The “State of Being” lecture, which is the volume control of engagement shows that not always do we interact at the same volume. Sometimes we engage disassociatively just for entertainment, sometimes we are grasping at what validates our perspective immersively, and finally we are using our judgement mode to augmentatively add selectively to our frame of reference. All of these modes will vary with the moon, hormones or life experiences.

I worked at a research facility one time on air quality and was accumulating data by a strict criteria to ascertain if the particulates in the electron microscope image were fly ash, sulfates, pollen, or unknown particulates. I worked very diligently to follow the guidelines and report accurately, but at one point I recorded my findings on the back of the picture and came back to it and recounted them later. It was dismally disappointing. My perception of the data was significantly different. The results also at times didn’t match expectations with the professor and so modifications were made to the formula by removing the parenthesis in the algebra? This is what we use as absolute governmental and scientific TRUTH?

At the Roadside Philosophers we have a first person group, which means we share perspectives and experiences one-on-one. The person is right there to question and we encourage cross examination and the “Whys”. It doesn’t take long to ascertain what volume they are engage in by the words they use in their first person account. This is invaluable in deciding their engagement level. Those little adjectives and sentence formation gives us their State of Being. However scientific papers are stripped of such clues. It is not considered scientific so all you see are numbers and graphs and bland documents. Lack of that context information is supposed to make reports MORE truthful?

I witness more and more scientific articles that say things like, “Taking Vitamin C MAY help ward off colds.” The words May or Can or Might is more truth… because they really don’t know. Just like Betty down the street tells you that gargling with salt has helped her sore throat. If you have someone right in front of you, you can bounce your questions off them directly. Experiential first person accounts can be falsified just as easily as modifying a calculation. So what do I consider valid? The right to interrogate. If the website has an email to contact and the person responds with something other than a

form letter, I will seriously consider it to be… An immersive perspective to consider.

We can examine validity all day, but the bottom line is that you need to understand that all perspectives are fluid and none can actually reflect 100% accurately the perspective from where YOU stand. 

So this is my point. You can never take a vacation from thinking or reflecting. Only you can draw the line from what is presented to where you stand in your journey of life. Do not give over your truth just because something claims validity over your experiences, unless you have the right of interrogation.

Enjoy your journey and claim your right to validate.  (Trust, but validate!)

Hugs, Pamala

The Puzzle of Life

On By Pamala CliftIn Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

I think that goes there…?

For some strange reason I had a desire to assemble a puzzle. 

All I could think about as I was setting it out was how much this is a metaphor for life.

This was a used puzzle I checked out, so there is the nagging thought that maybe all the pieces are not there. Don’t you wonder if you have all the pieces in life?

So you start out with the frame of the puzzle. Just like life, you try to scope out what is expected of you in the culture in which you are born. How much of the table top will it cover?

The frame is built slowly with straight edges given to you by your culture, parents, school and religion. Here is where you are suppose to stay in the lines to complete your picture of life.

With a boxed puzzle you get to look at the picture on the top to try and make some correlation for all those scrambled little pieces, however, in life no one really knows what the puzzle will look like. So you start matching color swatches and strange markings that might stir up the wonder in your mind. What could I do if I put this piece here? Does this fit? Maybe this?

How many people have tried to put a puzzle together not knowing what it is suppose to be? It is very hard even with the picture on the box. So the puzzle reactions of life get the very same confused response. Some get frustrated because they don’t KNOW what it is suppose to be so stop with the frame. Some try to make it the picture in their head and will cram pieces together that everyone else can plainly see do not go together. 

We can be frustrated and try to put the pieces together spending hours, days, years constructing a picture depicted by an outside entity, working to fill the life expectations of others OR… we can paint our own picture and discard the frustration that goes on around us as others try to be something they are not.

We have to live in this construct but we don’t have to let it affect us. We don’t have to buy into the false absolutes handed by others. If we are ever going to change the things wrong in society someone somewhere outside of the frame is going to have to change things. 

It is lonely outside the frame, but you can see things out here. Maybe help repaint the picture to something that works? 

At the end of your life what will be said about you and the puzzle you constructed from all those little parts? Will they say you stayed in the lines and did everything everyone expected from you, or will they say you created your own puzzle?

You have to be true to yourself, explore your possibilities and follow those puzzle pieces offered you in life that cause you wonder. That is your journey and what needs to be fully explored. So you can have sung at your funeral, “I did it MY Way.”

There is beauty in every soul that is true to that still small voice. Find your voice and rejoice in the uniqueness that is you. 

Hugs, Pam (The Roadside Philosopher)

What is Reality?

On By Pamala CliftIn Philosopher comments on Reality, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Don Quixote inside or out?

I gave for the first time the new presentation, “The Illusions We Live” just this last week. It was a rough delivery, but there was something of importance being brought together both in my mind and those that listened.

So what I want to talk about in this blog is again the perspective of reality with the fictional component of Don Quixote.

Don Quixote is an old coot of a character that sees evil and good through his own mental eyes. Most see him as a crazy delusional old man, but the value of the person was NOT what was viewed from outside. It was knowing what the vision and the trials of the man were from the inside. 

The glory of Don Quixote was staying true to that vision all the way up to the end. That was a inspiring man, with a noble cause even if we can not follow it or fully understand his reality. Somehow we respect the passion and the high ethical pursuit of the man to the point of striking awe within us.

We all see windmills that call out to our hearts, but waiver when others do not see what we see. We must be wrong?

Not a single sense, hearing, taste, visual, tactile, smell can not be easily fooled. There are tons of scientific research papers that successfully prove how unreliable our senses are. Yet there are those that claim if they can’t sense it, things are not real? 

If you realize that your vision of reality is not universally shared by others and all senses from this biological or pixelated avatar can be fooled…What do you believe in?

Reality is where you focus. If your inside says “Save the Trees” Than that is the vision you should pursue. If it says you “Must Seek the Force” than that is the direction your journey should take. Does it matter that others do not understand and can not see? No! What matters is you and how you interact with the universe. Are you being responsible to the calling that is your personal adventure in this life?

Where is the courage? Why is everything corruptible due to money? Who made money the true point system in this game of life?

Your illusions have value, whether you are locked in prison or on the street you can spin the story that nobly places you working toward your goals. Be true to the small voice inside and enjoy the adventure that is your life.

Hugs, Pam (The Roadside Philosopher)

Who Am I?

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal Relationships, Philosopher comments on RealityLeave a comment

The Eternal Question!

We are pummeled back and forth with expectations and cultural and ethical guidelines, but in these constructs do we find who we are? Or do we just create an acceptable facade? 

How many voices are in our heads? How many rule books do we have to play to? When do we sift those things that don’t work for us into an acceptable vision of who we really are?

I role play in life. I was a Mom because some wonderful little human beings came out of my body. I was a clown because I felt I needed a life with smiles. I was a military airman in law enforcement because I had always grown up around the military and men. I could go on listing roles I have played, but which ones were me? Each carried a component of me, but all drastically different and each had parts I did not like.

In virtual worlds we role play as well. To dig into our many facets of self the virtual world is a much faster venue than real life experiences to bounce off any newly created vision of ourselves. We make more mistakes faster online. What do we like? What does not hit our unique personality music?

The job now is just like Michelangelo said when he looked at a piece of marble. You are somewhere in that rock of a life, now chip away the things that are NOT you one at a time to see a clear vision and beauty of the composite of you. 

The hardest part is throwing things away. Saying No to those expectations that you are doing because of some external pressure that is not the person you truly would like to be.

I think this society needs a class on saying, “NO. Sorry that doesn’t work for me.” We might actually as a culture begin to see true value?

So what have you said NO to today? Which chip of marble did you cut off to get closer to you?

Enjoy the Journey.

Hugs, Pam (The Roadside Philosopher)

Tell me why That is Real,

On By Pamala CliftIn Philosopher comments on Reality, SocietyLeave a comment

…and this is not?

Now that I have made some attempt at publicity for the book I get requests by publicists. Well most of the ones I get are just trying to make their way like everyone else with small little radio shows, or want free books, so claim something they have no intention of fulfilling.

One did actually follow through with a little radio show in Chapel Hill, NC. It was nicely done with the interview conducted on the phone. Our only other communication had been by email. 

He came out and boldly said “Virtual is NOT REAL!” That was his “no questions asked” point of view. It wasn’t up for discussion.  Yet we had only typed in text.. and we had only communicated by phone, but HIS show was REAL. 

That always amazes me. Why a communication by a phone line is real and VOIP communication over a computer is not real? Does that mean if we talk on a black cell phone it is more real than if we talk on a red cell phone? Why does the device trigger reality?

When I asked him how many were on his internet radio show listening.. He reluctantly told me 2, but then he added there could be lots more out on the radio waves… umm hmmm.  This was his dream, to him, that was real! 

We dismiss anything that isn’t within our frame of reference. 

This picture was a Second Life broadcast with a live group of avatar audience that seemed to be close to 30. So let’s say a 100 more watch over a year on YouTube. By his estimation the virtual communication was NOT real? His little radio show was. Yet I got at least two book sales from the virtual show.

Reality is where ever you Focus.

So what is real.. is only what you believe, but that only works for you. So to quote another great story teller…

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy. 
– Hamlet (1.5.166-7), Hamlet to Horatio

Freedom vs Security

On By Pamala CliftIn Philosopher comments on Reality, SocietyLeave a comment

Is either Real?

Regulations to control? Regulations to provide the illusion of security? Regulations to give lawyers, judges, and clerks work? Regulations that require everyone to read pages and pages of regulations to see if any of it applies to them? Regulations that require you to purchase insurance in case you have missed any of the regulations and become liable? 

The paperwork of freedom is getting out of hand. We are handcuffing our productivity trying to stay legal to regulations that shift daily. No wonder we have fallen behind in productivity.

The legislative bodies have even gone non-productive because no one understands the level of complexity 3 zillion pages adds to the mechanics of society. How should this integrate with that if it is Tuesday and the market has closed, but the currency exchange has devalued our monetary system? We can NOT legislate for every occurrence possible.

I get a little radical here. Function should be first, in my opinion. If things don’t work, throw them out. We have gotten to a level of non-functional.

The depth of any transaction should be limited to 3 levels. You should always know who owns something no more than 3 levels deep. You should have instructions with no more than 3 external references.

If something can not be reduced to an If/Then/Else statement, it should not be put in the regulations. If it can be put in that statement, well then…hehe… we should have an App for that! 

There is no reason that life’s regulations should not be plain for the people that it regulates to have immediate understandable resources. If it is not plain and quickly understandable, it is not an effective regulation.

As it stands now, even the lawyers have to have lawyers to know or to get an additional opinion if what they are doing works this moment in time.

So what has that done for us? Has this really prevented fraud? Has it stopped the bad guys? Given us any security?

In fact the complexity has given very fertile ground for deceit and spin doctors. A team of lawyers with creativity can find a way to make anyone illegal.  The required insurance businesses and individuals are made to pay has given money to companies that live to take money, not insure. They have a team of lawyers to find ways out of paying. It is an illusion of security that we are forced to pay.

This is the topic of our next Roadside Philosopher’s meeting on July 20th, Freedom vs Security. I shall look forward to the international flavor of opinions as to what has worked and doesn’t work in other countries.

Hugs to all my free thinkers.

The 3 Monkeys-

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See, Hear, Speak no Evil

I have had monkeys by my monitor almost since I have had a computer.

I found these two adorable ceramic monkeys with large rhinestone eyes at a thrift shop and sat them on my monitor for years. I was never really sure why they just seemed to be perfect there.

One day after a long time spent online I went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes had the same glassed-over look as those two rhinestone monkeys. OOooh, now I get it.

I also have several versions of the hear, see, speak no evil monkeys around.

Why is that important online?  Well when you think that what you say online can now be referenced forever because of archival sites you can not take anything back if said online. That is really quite freaky when you think about it…maybe someday your great grand kids will have a search engine that can pull up everything done and said on the web by their ancestors. So much for leaving a legacy. So that covers why we should speak no evil…

Why we should “see” and “hear” no evil is also a concern. With the ability now of tracking on the web any IP address and web tracing capabilities you really don’t want to be places you would have to explain later to a spouse, boss, client, or government agency…clears throat. I am always concerned about that old computer saying GIGO (Garbage in=Garbage out) My mind has limited processing units available, if my little mental cells are filled with things that are negative that gives me less positive resources to draw from so I am reducing my functional capacity.

Also if you are wandering the dark recesses of the web there are all sorts of malware that can sneak in upon your computer. It is not safe out there. All good reasons for being cautious about what you put in your computer mind.

I got a contract recently to evaluate websites for a search engine. There is tons and tons of stuff I have to do on my computer to prepare for *Drum Roll Please* the DARK SIDE of the web. In fact I ended up downloading malware attached to the malware software I was suppose to download.

I am always concerned about that old computer saying GIGO (Garbage in=Garbage out) My mind has limited processing units available, if my little mental cells are filled with things that are negative that gives me less positive resources to draw from so I am reducing my functional capacity.

Also if you are wandering the dark recesses of the web there are all sorts of malware that can sneak in upon your computer. It is not safe out there. All good reasons for being cautious about what you put in your computer mind.

I got a contract recently to evaluate websites for a search engine. There is tons and tons of stuff I have to do on my computer to prepare for *Drum Roll Please* the DARK SIDE of the web. In fact I ended up downloading malware attached to the malware software I was suppose to download.

In the beginning of the Internet we had almost Carte Blanche, very much like the free wild west. Few people could “catch” anyone. Now we have to clean up our act, just as when the regular settlers moved in and set up laws and created the states and joined into a country. We have to listen to and keep in mind that this is part of our real life world now…It has rules. It has police. There are consequences.

There will always be mavericks out there that hate the constraints and will forge new ground to be free. You GO Guys/Gals! But now that we are actually getting society acclimated to the digital world,(we were shouting its praises to get converts) we have to step aside a bit.

Virtual worlds have not hit the main stream yet, so we still hold onto our fringe geniuses, but if it is indeed the value we believe it to be, when the world moves in…there will be something lost as well.

Us digital monkeys need to figure out what it is we truly want. Freedom or acceptance?

Artistic Differences-

On By Pamala CliftIn Interpersonal Relationships, Philosopher comments on Reality, SocietyLeave a comment

Get it?

Art means somebody is NOT going to GET it! That is just the way of it.

Whether you are looking at modern art or classic renaissance; you’re listening to  hard rock, rap or country music, there will be someone loving it and others hating it.

I remember going to the Smithsonian’s Modern Art Museum with my daughters after we had just spent a couple of hours enjoying the traditional art museum classics. We only spent 15 min walking through this modern museum trying to GET these high profile pieces. If I thought I wasn’t cultured, my daughters out “uncultured” me with their jokes and verbiage. But to tell you the truth I could not stop laughing at thinking that a space of honor was given to a tilted urinal? Obviously we did not GET it. Yes, it might have a cultural meaning of pissing on society, but art should require an effort to convey. Less effort should equal less value. A painted line or box across a large canvas did not take much effort so we could see no value, yet people pay millions.

Why is that?  No, I mean really? Why are we humans on such drastically different frequencies?

When someone puts up their creative talents in Second Life (virtual worlds have an amazing collection of artistic people) either their artwork, photography, poems, or music, I walk around waiting for something to HIT me. Something that comes in on MY channel. I will know it when I see it or hear it, but could not tell you in advance why one grouping of colors or sounds FEELS like me and others do not.

We hear, see and feel things on different channels. The human race is a keyboard of resonating notes. 

When we actually can learn to break down and test that resonating component of the human spirit we might just be able to construct the instrument that will allow us to make harmony from these minor and major cords. That is when we will have peace on earth.

That is when science and art will meet, when those resonating frequencies of our life’s perceptions can be identified like DNA. Is there such a thing? It is obvious that we all respond to something consistently, so it does exist, but what is IT?

I thought I sang in B-flat, someone else labeled my key as D. I know if a song is in the wrong key I sound like an idiot, the right one I will challenge the talent shows. So if there is a right and wrong KEY for everyone, shouldn’t their be a way to test for it?  I believe our human spirit has a frequency and we each are a note in the instrument of life. Now I am looking for the orchestra pit, composer and conductor that can pull from our universal frequencies and get us working together in a planet symphony. Hugs