Levels of Reality

Yesterday, I saw a clump of purple crocuses with golden centers. That was the first time in my life I had seen real crocuses. I knew what they were because I had seen pictures of them, but they don't grow well where I come from. So what was different about seeing them in real life? Why isn't seeing a high-resolution photograph enough? Why wouldn't it be enough even if there was a realistic scent with the photograph? What if there was a cool breeze wafting through the room where the picture was displayed? What if it was not a photo, but a sculpture that you could touch, and the petals and leaves felt like real ones? Would that be enough? Certainly, it would be a great artistic achievement. But that's all it would be. It wouldn't be a living, metabolizing plant. It would be created for the pleasure of our senses. Now, art isn't inherently bad at all. In fact, it can be very beneficial, but I am afraid that these days, we're generally too distracted by merely gratifying our physical senses and using art to do so.

Okay, before we get into this, I want to make it clear that I have nothing against art in general. It all depends on its intent and effect.

So you've all heard about Plato's Cave and the different levels of reality, right? Plato thought that the physical world is the lowest level of reality. Beyond that is the intelligible world, which is made up of the forms: eternal truths. I wonder what he would have thought of our virtual realities and our entertainment that is made of images, fabricated stories about what is supposed to be like real life. Now, one might say that the Greeks had art, and Plato didn't seem to have a problem with art – as long as it didn't corrupt people in any way. There is a difference between classical Greek art and our art. One might say that Greek art didn't represent reality because it was purposely ideal. That all depends on what you consider reality. Greek art represented a perfect reality beyond this mortal, imperfect existence, something above the shadows of the cave. In a similar way, Greek theater went beyond the common conception of reality. It may have been seen as unrealistic because of the giant masks and the fact that they didn't show violence. They only talked about it. In comparison, our movies show EVERYTHING, and people think they're more realistic. But Greek theater had something that most of our entertainment doesn't. It wasn't just entertainment; it wasn't meant to just appeal to the senses. It was a form of education. It made people think about ideas beyond the physical world. They would discuss the plays for months -- and they would have something to discuss besides action sequences and the attractiveness of the actors.

Our technology and entertainment are really good at imitating the physical world, and it is getting better at it. People are lead to think that it is getting closer and closer to reality. It is in a sense, but only the physical sense. In another sense it is getter farther and farther from reality. Entertainers will often try to reconcile unreal things and false messages with reality by making the physical aspect seem real. Often, making unreal things seem real isn't inherently harmful, especially when the audience knows the unreal thing could never be. For instance, we all know that dragons are a thing of legend, so even when we see a very realistic portrayal of a dragon in a movie, we know it's not actually real. However, when the concept is not as obviously unreal as dragons, and has a semblance to reality, it has a more destructive potential. I always get annoyed with movies where the characters do stupid things, everything works out anyway. Real life doesn't work that way, and we shouldn't expect it to. But if spend enough time with entertainment, we start to expect those things. We expect something for nothing.

Media also imposes on us images of what other people think we should be like. These days, actors and singers are rated by their looks, not so much their talent. They are made to look perfect, and computers pick up the slack if they can't actually sing or if they're not quite a size 0. If they are all we see, we think we have to be like them, and we base our self-worth on our looks. If the physical world is a lower form of reality, then this, of course, is absurd.

A lot of sitcoms and movies show people drinking, partying, beating each other up, jumping into bed, etc. -- doing anything to gratify their physical senses and passions. They show the characters having fun and seeming happy. They don't show all the negative and lasting consequences that happen in reality and effect both the participants and their loved ones. What about the child born out of wedlock who grew up without a stable family life and who received only distorted messages about love? What about the lives lost to reckless violence, lives with potential and a chance for free agency? There are many stories that are left untold in our high definition, surround-sound entertainment. If a person's only source of knowledge was the television set, video games, or internet entertainment, they would quickly forget that real freedom can only exist when responsibility is exercised.

Alright, now that I've ragged on entertainment, I'll acknowledge that it is not all bad. Many artists are inspired and in turn inspire us. So, for the sake of argument, let's assume that all art and entertainment became inspiring and uplifting. Let's also assume that even though people tend to be attracted toward media that satisfies the senses, we all turned into people that found this kind of art appealing. Now, I have to ask myself this too. Assume that in the above circumstances, you spend as much time with media and entertainment, particularly electronic media, as you do currently. Then consider how much time you spend doing other things in comparison. Even if the media was all good and inspiring, would your life be an active, fulfilled life if you spent all this time with media? Do you go outside enough? Do you go to live concerts and plays once in awhile? Do you make things? Do you ever just sit and think, even if that includes writing out your thoughts? Do you take time to study things out and try to understand them? Do you spend enough time with your loved ones? Do you spend enough time doing things for other people? The things that aren't real and that we should beware of cause us to focus only on our own pleasure. We should be doing things that turn the focus outward and bring fulfillment and meaning to our lives and build real relationships with real people around us, as Elder David A. Bednar said in his address to young adults of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints: “Things as they Really Are”.

I think that in addition to levels of reality, there are also different levels of doing. There is sitting on the couch and doing nothing. There is watching the TV and doing nothing. There is playing video games and accomplishing nothing. There is thinking and talking about doing something. Then there is actually doing it. There is doing something with a purpose. There is doing something for the right reasons. Taking action is doing something to something beyond yourself or doing something for someone else. Being entertained is just trying to satisfying yourself. The only way we can really find meaning and fulfillment as human beings is if we take action and look beyond ourselves. If we constantly seek pleasure, we will never be satisfied, even if we get the things we thought wanted. We'll always want more. On the other hand, if we reach out beyond ourselves and forget ourselves, we'll find the things will give us lasting happiness, and we'll find that we have become something we could have never imagined before.

So, let's find out where those crocuses came from. Let's do something. Let's climb out of the cave of the shadows of shadows and find reality and the source of truth. There are many conflicting and false messages being thrown around. People are using media and entertainment to try to get us to believe things that may not be necessarily true. It's hard to know who and what to trust. Let's not be gullible, but use our heads and find out what's really going on. I believe that the truth resides in the restored Gospel of Christ and that all the true answers we seek can be traced back to it.