Fishbowl Paradox.
Imagine a goldfish, inside a bowl. Living all its life in this confined space. If it had the ability to answer questions, we could ask few questions. Imagine you sit with the fish half an hour and ask questions.
Fishbowl Paradox
Do you know you live inside a bowl?
Do you know you only get a distorted view of the room?
Do you know there is the outside world which you cannot reach?
Do not call me idiotic, when I ask those questions. Many more people have done the same. In fact Monza city council of Italy had banned spherical fish bowls in their state. Among many reasons, "Fish seeing a distorted version of reality" was mentioned. But how can we ever know? we ourselves are fish, in bowls called human body. The reality we see is only just a replication of the mind.
Do the fish know they live inside a bowl?
I am sure they do not know. Do not ask me how I know. I can see them happily swimming. Perhaps their story ended happily ever after the moment they went inside it. Fish don't seem to possess the brain capacity to know their confinement. I do not see them investigate the boundaries. Unlike octopuses, which are really brainy and explore each and every corner of their habitat. An octopus would definitely suffer inside a fishbowl. It would yearn to move out of this place. Compare this to many of our lives. We confine ourselves to homes, families, ethnicities, countries, humans as a species. But there is always something beyond these fishbowls. Many of us do not know about them, as we cannot get an outside perspective while inside a fishbowl. Maybe there is no other way than jumping a few times.
Do the fish know they only get a distorted view of the room?
With the actual fish, we do not have to ask this question, as it is mundane when they cannot even understand what the fishbowl is. Similarly, many men and women in our world are stuck at the level of not knowing where they live. They do not know they are prisoners of the mind. How can they question reality itself? We can use magnifying glasses and telescopes to enhance our vision, even use infrared cameras and X-rays to see inside. But ultimately, we have to use our eyes and brain to recognize and make sense of everything. This limitation is not something everyone is aware of. Some know it as a theory, most philosophers and scientists. But not when you see something beautiful and recognize it as it is.
Do the fish know there is an outside world where you cannot reach?
Again, this is a mundane question with a real fish. But with humans, we can call it just the philosophical view of the allegory of the cave. I call this the unseen world. The unseen world is much more than just infrared and X-ray vision of a superman. It is everything and everything else you do NOT know right now, including what your pet is doing on your couch, to what is happening behind closed doors of the cabinet. Our beliefs, our experience, our culture, and our knowledge have limitations. So the greatest limitation to our understanding could be our inability to understand the limitations themselves.
With these thoughts in mind, I think you can do better with your day. You will obviously be able to imagine outside the fishbowl, although knowing this is also a distorted image. You could be able to be at peace with the lie constantly present in reality and live a fulfilled life. Words can only do thus far for wisdom.
End. Fishbowl Paradox
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