How do you see the world? Is it the same way in which your mother or father see the world? Of course your parents will use past experiences to see the world in a different light, but I'm talking about physically seeing the world. In essence, what is reality?
No, I'm not talking about the Matrix. Although to a certain extent, the Matrix trilogy (or at least the first film), made the audience question their own reality. If I can see it and I can touch it, it must be real, right? But why must it be real, just because your brain is using sensory inputs such as sight, sound and touch, to create a picture of the world around you. As Morpheus says to Neo; "Your mind makes it real".
A perfect example is visual perception. When light enters the eye, the image that the retina picks up is up-side-down. But of course this is not what we see. Our brains use this information to flip the image back around to its correct position. So our brains are taking this sensory input and changing what we actually see.
So what part of our brains is responsible for interpreting all of this information? The Central Nervous System (CNS) is where all the information from the peripheral nervous system is received and processed. It is also responsible for controlling body movement and all biological processes through electrical signals.
Now, I'm not biochemistry major, but I'm going to try and explain this as easily as possible. Without going into too much detail, the nerve cells in the CNS have receptors, "protein molecules", that interact with other produced molecules within the CNS, such as other protein, neurotransmitters and hormone molecules, which can attach themselves to these receptors, causing specific biological activity in the human body.
Still with me? One particular neurotransmitter molecule that is produced in the brain, as well as the stomach, is 'serotonin'. Now this biochemical is responsible for regulation of mood, appetite and sleep.
Of course, this is all natural biochemistry at work here. So what if, in one particular individual, the brain began producing an unknown chemical that attached and interacted with these receptors, causing information received by the CNS from the sensory inputs to be interpreted differently? Would this individual then begin to perceive the world differently, sound, touch, taste, sight, all because their brain began processing information differently?
This new 'unknown' chemical may be either activating this receptor (agonist) or blocking it (antagonist), altering the information it receives. Now, let's say this unknown chemical being produced, although physically and biochemically impossible, was lysergic acid diethylamide (or LSD for short) or at least something that produced the same affect on these receptors, by disrupting the interaction between the nerve cell and neurotransmitter, which specifically targets serotonin neurotransmitters.
Ok, I know what you're saying now. "But LSD is a man made, synthetic drug! Your brain can't just start producing acid and tripping out!" But the only point I'm trying to get across is; what is perception? What is reality? For someone who could produce LSD or other hallucinogens internally, which would in turn alter their perception of reality, would that not also be a certain, albeit different, reality? When your brain naturally increases its serotonin levels, which in turn makes you feel happier, is this not also altering your perception of reality to a certain degree. What if, in an alternative universe, all humans had evolved with such an 'ability', this state of mind would be the accepted common reality.
All I'm saying is that your perception of reality is what your mind makes of it.
Neo: I thought it wasn't real
Morpheus: Your mind makes it real
Neo: If you're killed in the matrix, you die here?
Morpheus: The body cannot live without the mind
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