If It Can Suffer, It's Real — by Yuval Noah Harari

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Welles
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If It Can Suffer, It's Real — by Yuval Noah Harari

Post by Welles »

Normally I don't post the punchline but in this case I'm giving you the conclusion because I was concerned that you might be put off by 'suffer'. Oh, and it isn't Buddhist. :bana:
For me, maybe the most important question, both as a scientist and as a person, is how to distinguish between fiction and reality. I'm not suggesting that everything is fiction, but that it's just very difficult for human beings to tell the difference between fiction and reality. It has become more and more difficult as history progressed because the fictions that we have created -- nations and gods and money and corporations -- now control the world. Even just to think, "Oh, these are all just fictional entities," feels quite difficult.

Yet, there are several tests to tell the difference between fiction and reality. The simplest one is the test of suffering. If it can suffer, it's real. If it can't suffer, it's not real. A nation cannot suffer. That's very, very clear. Even if a nation loses a war, we say, "Germany suffered a defeat in the First World War," it's a metaphor. Germany cannot suffer. Germany has no mind. Germany has no consciousness. Germans can suffer, yes, but Germany cannot. Similarly, when a bank goes bust, the bank cannot suffer. When the dollar loses its value, the dollar doesn't suffer. People can suffer. Animals can suffer. This is real.

If one really wants to see reality, I would go through the door of suffering. If we can really understand what suffering is, we will receive the key to understand what reality is.
If It Can Suffer, It's Real — by Yuval Noah Harari

https://www.awakin.org/read/view.php?op=audio&tid=2524


:loves
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