Reality has Become Fuzzy #45 #cong23 #reality

Reading Time in Minutes

3

1. Reality no longer means what I think it means.
2. I think I’m going to have to deal with life being a little more fuzzy

Clare loves Congregation, and the discussions she has there. She is currently researching how developers can better collaborate to create and maintain software. She works with InnerSource and open source communities on the side.  She’s very sorry her submission came so late this year.

You can connect with Clare on LinkedIn or send her an email.

By Clare Dillon

One of my favourite movies is The Princess Bride. I often find the characters inhabiting my head when their words appear relevant. When I heard of this theme, I could hear Inigo Montoyo say “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means”.

And fundamentally, I agree with Inigo. I used to think I knew what reality meant – but there have been so many times in the last few years where my perception of reality has been challenged, that at the moment, I think my understanding of the word is a little fuzzy.

Here is a list of just some of the times when my understanding of what “reality” is has been challenged…

• Learning about quantum theory and entanglement and how a quantum system can exist in a combination of two or more possible states at the same time. Mind blowing.
• Experiencing augmented reality for the first time with a Microsoft Hololens and “seeing” large mech invaders emerge from the wall of the room. As I started ducking and diving I had that peculiar experience of both knowing they were not real even as my body and mind was reacting like they were being attacked.
• That time in Cong when I was introduced to the idea from James Joyce of “two thinks at a time” and “twosome twiminds.” That started me thinking about how two seemingly contradictory perspectives can be held as true at the same time.
• Donald Trump becoming president. Who would’ve thunk that was possible when we saw him in Home Alone 2.
• Thinking about just how “real” some artificial intelligence output seems.
• Learning about all the cognitive biases at play in our minds that mean we rarely make decisions based on rational thinking. Realising just how little control we have about what we think in the world.
• And that time, just a little while I ago, when I woke up from a particularly vivid dream of talking with my mother and believed, in that moment, that she was still alive and with us in this world….

My understanding of what is real and what constitutes reality seems to be constantly shifting these days…

After hearing there is a poetry jam once again at this Cong, here is a short poem ChatGPT came up with on the topic I quite like:

Reality is fuzzy, we are just going to have to learn how to deal

With the uncertainty and ambiguity that we often feel

Sometimes we think we know the truth, but then we find out we were wrong

Sometimes we see things differently, but then we have to get along

Reality is fuzzy, we are just going to have to learn how to cope

With the complexity and diversity that we often hope

To understand and appreciate, but then we face some challenges

To communicate and collaborate, but then we need some balances

Reality is fuzzy, we are just going to have to learn how to grow

With the creativity and curiosity that we often show

To explore and discover, but then we have to make some choices

To create and innovate, but then we have to use our voices