P for Perceptions

“You have your way. I have my way. As for the right way, the correct way, and the only way, it does not exist.” ~Friedrich Nietzsche

Evenings in Rishikesh were an absolute bliss. They are meant to relax and while away your time watching the sunset while the cold breeze touches your face. Every evening, during my brief stay in Rishikesh,  we used to sit on the banks of the Ganges with our feet dipped into the water and talk about things. Everything. Things like why we were travelling solo, what were we scared of, if there was something that we could change about ourselves , what would it be and so many other things. Some profound. Some utterly nonsensical. 

On one such evening, AY, AK and I were talking with our feet dipped into the water. Suddenly we notice two shining objects far away in the sky; twinkling and one white in colour and the other twinkling and red in colour.

AK and I argue that those are stars while AY counter argues saying they are planets. 

"No, those are stars because they are twinkling."

"Then why aren't the rest of the stars twinkling?"

"They cannot be stars. Look at the other stars. They look like dots and these are much nearer than them. And stars aren't red. Planets are red when seen with naked eye."

"They cannot be planets because you cannot see them all the time. And planets don't twinkle."

"Pollution. Sometimes pollution can make planets twinkle."

"Maybe its a star and it looks red because of pollution and the light getting reflected blah blah."

"Stars shine by their own light. Planets reflect light.

"May be these are different kind of stars. Closer to the earth."

"Look at the other stars. Does that look like a pattern?"

We argue for a good 15 times, each supporting our viewpoints "stars vs planets" . We used a bit of physics as well to support our theories. Suddenly one of us realises that there is another set of similar looking stars, much closer to us than the first set.

"Oh! Wait! look at those. A white light and another red light and they are so close to us. Are they also stars?"

We realise what the two shining objects are and we roar in laughter. They were neither stars nor planets but were the lights of a temple.  The two shining objects we first saw were also lights of a temple on a hill far away.

We laughed it out but what struck me was how we humans perceive things differently and can go to any extent to prove our view point. We argued based on our perceptions while the reality was something totally different. Even in our daily lives, it is amazing how each one gives a different meaning/opinion to the same situation or context which is largely based on our beliefs, past experiences, culture, faith and so many other things and sometimes, it may not even be what we think it is.

"We don't see things as they are, we see things as we are!"

A lot of times in relationships, we perceive things and assume them to be reality. So what is reality? I google it up to find answers and find a quote by Einstein , " Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

 What we believe is reality is merely what we are perceiving.  So for everything that happens in the world or exists , there is 'my reality' and ' your reality' and in reality, it may not be the reality at all because there cannot be 'millions of realities' and as humans , we can never know what 'reality' is.

And yeah, often perceptions can be manipulated.  So are planets real? And are electrons real? Is it that our perceptions have been manipulated to make us believe in theories , scientific and otherwise.  I wonder what quantum mechanics has to say about perceptions?

So, as usual, I took to quora to find my answers... and ended up being more confused than before ;)