"In vacant or in pensive mood..." I am: Bekah; 24; Law Student / Favorite Things: Carbs (so there!), Johnny Damon, Smiling at babies, Grilled cheese, Comfortable silence / Favorite Supreme Court Justice: Brennan / Favorite Wilson: Owen by an inch / Today's Special: Song: Elliott Smith, "Bled White"; Quote: "You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bowstaff." Please love me: mmbekah@yahoo.com


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Empirically Speaking...

There was an empiricist philosopher I studied in college--I think it was Berkeley--who believed that the building you see when you're far away, and the building you then enter once you get close enough are actually two different buildings. Your apartment from 500 feet away is a different place than your apartment when you're inside. When you're 500 feet away, you can hold your apartment in your hand, so how can that possibly be the same apartment that you move around in? ("How can we teach children to read if they can't even fit inside the building?") Berkeley also believed that every object has millions of versions for all of the different angles from which we perceive them. So my poster from across the room is a different poster than the one I examine while lying in my bed. He also believed that things disappear, or no longer exist, when they are out of our presence. So my apartment ceases to be when I leave for school in the morning.

This is all very disconcerting to me. Most people probably think it's stupid or ridiculous, but it makes me...nervous.

The reason I bring it up now is that I've been thinking recently about the phenomenon of getting to know someone. There are people I've met this year who I only "knew of" last year, and I can't reconcile their last year and this year selves. To me, the people I know now and the people I knew of last year are simply not the same people. They have different personalities and traits and they like different things. It might seem strange, but I think on some level the people I know now really are different people than they were last year. Because can people really be anything other than what other people perceive? Would we exist at all if not through the interpretations and assessments of others? And if we could, would that existence matter? Isn't the only thing that keeps us grounded in the world our ability to form relationships with other people? And if that's the case, do we actually exist through others, and not in spite of them?

On second thought, this might be a little heavy for a Monday morning.

posted by Bekah at 11:16 AM :: |