Illusion vs Reality Paper
The world around us is filled with both thin and thick illusions, the things our minds see that are not what they appear to be. The questions that we are fast with in a world full of thck and thin illusions are what is real, and is this world that we exist in real or only a thick illusion? The answer is that this world is reality however.
“…This evil genius promised no good, promised no knowledge. He made a boast…he could deceive any son of Adam about anything.” (Bouwsma,141) In the essay Descartes’ Evil Genius by O.K. Bouwsma, thin and thick illusions are discussed and illustrated through examples. This Evil Genius; mentioned in the quote above concludes that he must show his ability by deceiving mankind. The genius does so by changing all in the world; people, flowers, buildings, mountains, etc into paper. He does not change paper itself however. Through the eyes of the character Tom we see that this becomes a world of thin illusion. Tome starts his day in the paper world the same as any other, with flowers in a bowl on his table. At first glance he believes he sees something wrong but then concludes that these are really flowers. His good friend Milly comes to visit, and he realizes “Milly looks like a big doll” as Tom puts it and “when she talks, her mouth clicks”. People outside Tom’s house begin to pick up the background. This world Tom sees becomes a thin illusion; he knows that this is not truly the real world. As Tom says “I think I’m paper, therefore I am paper” taking from Descartes’ famous quote “I think, therefore; I am” indicating that he’s not truly paper he only sees himself as paper because he is led to believe it. When he states this in the story he is cheered because he knows it is not really his world.
Now that the Evil Genius has failed to deceive all of mankind with a world made of only paper; Tom seeing right through its fallacies, the Evil Genius attempts a second illusionary world made of nothing more than Tom’s own thoughts, doing so to prove the he (The evil Genius) can deceive any son of Adam. The Evil Genius destroys the world tom knows so that there are no flowers, no Milly, no sky, etc. This portion of the story represents thick illusions, tom sees, hears, smells, feels, and tastes what is not there. The Evil Genius previously blotted out Toms recollections of the paper world keeping tom from questioning what he sees being that it looks all more realistic then paper. In this new world only Tom and the evil genius can think for themselves therefore; only they two exist. The evil genius is able to fool tom completely into thinking this is the real world being that all five of Tom’s senses are satisfied with the world. The evil genius tries to make Tom question the world though by getting into his head and calming that a 6th sense called the “ceroicio” cannot be satisfied by the world. “But if I cannot also cerpicio what I see, smell, touch, etc, what I have then seen is not anything real.”Tom resolves that this is a made up Sense and goes on believing that this is the real world
In the episode Ship in a Bottle of the series Star Trek, a device called a “holodeck” is used in order to create a thick illusion of sorts, to keep crew members of the Star Ship Enterprise for use by crew to keep from getting bored or for exercise. Data, for example a robot crew member of the ship; for use as entertainment gets on the “holodeck” as it projects a Sherlock Holmes story. The “holodeck” works in a way that you can interact with the “figment” characters and objects in the projection as well as the inanimate objects you see. There are some limits to what the “holodeck” can do however, only things that have been experienced or written can be reproduced. Data is quite possibly the smartest crew member and for him to get all the enjoyment he wishes the characters such as Professor James Moriarty are to be made to out think him. Data being a self-aware robot causes the characters to become self-aware. With Moriarty being self-aware he wishes to leave the “holodeck”, but in order to get the crew of the Enterprise to do this he must trick them into finding a way for him to leave the “holodeck” without being destroyed. He creates a second S.S.Enterprise on the “holodeck” so that Data, Barkley, and Picard believe he is able to leave despite everything the three of them know, they are then in the false Enterprise and are trying to find a way to get Moriarty’s beloved duchess, Regina off the “holodeck.” This whole plot is made up (the duchess getting off the “holodeck”) in order for Moriarty to find a safe way for him to leave the “holodeck” without being destroyed by the real world. He doesn’t want to be at risk while experimenting, he then would to the crew of the real ship and has them do what was found on the “holodeck.” While experimenting with the transporter as a possible way to get the duchess off the “holodeck,” it seems as though nothing is actually working, the transactions are not showing up on the computer, and that Data is led to believe it is real though it is only an illusion. Data as well notices that as in the “holodeck” the crew members he thinks are real are using the wrong hand which they are partial to using. He realizes that this whole ship he is on is really a “holodeck” simulation. The three crew members stuck on the “holodeck” create another Enterprise with the illusion ships “holodeck;” leading Moriarty to believe he has entered the Enterprise. Moriarty leaves the ship in an escape pod in the program and is content believing it is the real world. The other three find their way off the real “holodeck” with help from the real crew and all is well. This whole “holodeck” experience is a good representation of what a thick illusion really is. The three crew members couldn’t see it was an illusion by anything until Data realized the “wrong hand glitch.” When Data comes up with the theory that they have been fooled and are on a false Enterprise he throws an object to Gordy; a fellow crew member of the Enterprise whom they’ve assumed was real however; he catches the object in his wrong hand.
Picard is able to use a thick illusion on Moriarty and the duchess creating a third Enterprise in the “holodeck” on the Professor’s Star Ship. This new Enterprise is a thick illusion because the professor cannot see it as an illusion. All the ships that the “holodeck” have produced look identical to each other so one would not be able to discern whether it is the real Enterprise or only another illusion. Moriarty is in communication with the real crew of the star ship and what they are saying is coinciding with what the figments as well as the three trapped members of the star ship. Moriarty is led by this fact to believe this is the real ship as well as he is able to step off the “holodeck,” as he believes it through the transporters as the crew were experimenting with. The figment crew on the ship Moriarty believes to be real allows him and the duchess to board an escape pod and they are off to explore what they believe to be real universe for the rest of their lives. With getting what Moriarty wants in what he perceives as real he allows the real ship to be accessed by its crew and all goes well for everyone. Picard lets this program run on with memories of the Enterprise’s travels to keep the professor and the duchess happy for the rest of their lives. As long as the professor doesn’t try and experiment with new ideas that the members of the Enterprise haven’t already made or discovered, he will go on believing it is the real universe he is in. If he does try this, the “holodeck” cannot allow it to happen for the “holodeck” can only project what is known. There are, also, glitches with the program, such as characters using the wrong hand that could cause the professor to realize he has been fooled.
Reality is what it is that we know is around us, when we perceive things, such as seeing a record player we are able to know what it is that that is sitting on a table, we can feel it, as well as hear it when it is on. When we perceive things we are giving cohesive form to the combination of matter in one place which is the reality of the universe. The way you may perceive things is not the way another may, for example in the article born on a blue day a story of the life of a savant mind, the person sees numbers as colors and shapes where as many of us may perceive them only as numbers, though we both know what it is forming a common reality it can be perceived in many different ways; in other words a different perception in no way implies a different world entirely for a person or organism. Reality can become a thin allusion as well when we are able to perceive its fallacies. When we are in a movie theater one may see them selvs in the setting of the movie itself however when a phone starts to wring in the audience yet in the film it the U.S. Civil War or the audience laughs you are made aware that you and the film are aprt and that what you are seeing is only an illusion. In Descartes Evil Genius it is true that the genius has not truly deceived anyone, Tom may not be in the physical presence of anything however he dose perceive flowers and Milly etc. which in turn is his reality, it is the stuff that is around him as he perceives it. The evil genius simply sees his deceptive world as a deception. In other word nether person is truly deceived of anything they are simply experiencing their own perceptions of their world. The world Tom is in has all that he knows around him, there is no extra tom in it and he can communicate with all the “figment” characters of his world therefore for him this world that the Evil genius sees Tom as being surrounded by is a thick illusion and that s why Tom can’t and won’t believe the voice of the evil genius when he claims the flower Tom holds as not true.
Source: Free Content Webb, Author unknown.