Mistaking The World We’ve Made For The Real World, by George Saunders

Confundir el mundo que hemos creado con el mundo real
--por George Saunders

En el momento en que despertamos comienza la historia: “Aquí estoy. En mi cama. Trabajador, buen padre, marido decente, un tipo que siempre hace lo mejor que puede. Dios, me duele la espalda. Probablemente del estúpido gimnasio”.

Y así, con nuestros pensamientos, se hace el mundo.

O, en todo caso, se hace un mundo.

Esta creación del mundo a través del pensamiento es natural, sensata, darwiniana: lo hacemos para sobrevivir. ¿Hay daño en ello? Bueno, sí, porque pensamos de la misma manera que oímos o vemos: dentro de un rango estrecho que mejora la supervivencia. No vemos ni oímos todo lo que podría verse u oírse, sino sólo lo que nos resulta útil ver y oír. Nuestros pensamientos son igualmente restringidos y tienen un propósito igualmente estrecho: ayudar al pensador@ a prosperar.

Todo este pensamiento limitado tiene un subproducto desafortunado: el ego. ¿Quién intenta sobrevivir? "Yo”. La mente toma una vasta totalidad unitaria (el universo), selecciona un pequeño segmento de ella (yo) y comienza a narrar desde ese punto de vista. Así, esa entidad (¡George!) se vuelve real, y está (sorpresa, sorpresa) ubicado en el centro exacto del universo, y todo está sucediendo en su película, por así decirlo; todo es, de algún modo, tanto para él como sobre él. De esta manera surge el juicio moral: lo que es bueno para George es… bueno. Lo que es malo para él es malo. (El oso no es ni bueno ni malo hasta que, pareciendo hambriento, comienza a caminar hacia George).

Así, en cada instante, se crea un abismo delirante entre las cosas tal como pensamos que son y como realmente son. Nos vamos, confundiendo el mundo que hemos creado con nuestros pensamientos con el mundo real. El mal y la disfunción (o al menos lo desagradable) ocurren en proporción a la solidez con la que una persona cree que (sus) proyecciones son correctas y actúa energéticamente sobre ellas.

Preguntas semilla para la reflexión: ¿Cómo te relacionas con la noción de que confundimos el mundo que hemos creado con nuestros pensamientos con el mundo real? ¿Puedes compartir una historia personal de alguna vez en la que tomaste conciencia de que tus pensamientos estaban dentro de un rango estrecho que mejoraba la supervivencia? ¿Qué te ayuda a ver y oír más que tu proyección?

Excerpted from here.

Seed Questions for Reflection

How do you relate to the notion that we mistake the world we’ve made with our thoughts for the real world? Can you share a personal story of a time you became aware of your thoughts being within a narrow, survival-enhancing range? What helps you see and hear more than your projection?

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Add Your Reflection

8 Past Reflections

Eric

Nov 18, 2023

I was accosted by a mentally ill person one Tuesday. I believe they were of the notion that I must be racist for making eye contact and wishing them good morning. My life was threatened and I was trying to understand what just happened. Later that day I received this email. I didn't think much of it right away. I was extremely grateful but still absorbed in the emotions of what had transpired. That I received this story, on that day, after that particular moment is nothing short of a Miracle. The Divine is Real.

Barbara

Nov 16, 2023

Slowing down, authentic deep Listening helps me see and hear better.

Francis dacosta

Nov 15, 2023

In AI there is a term, Ground Truth. for me that is the Buddha touching the Earth as witness for veracity. The physical senses experienced not inferred.

David B

Nov 14, 2023

Quite enjoyed this article. I would not say our thoughts create the ego. Rather it is identification with our sense of individuality that creates the "I" sense ( which forms naturally in the process of separation from mother). That then drives the self-interest and mental narratives which in turn reinforce the ego. When we awaken to our true nature, that identification breaks. Then all the narratives fall away and we begin to see the world much more as it is. Then we can have a much more harmonious relationship with the world and those around us.

I agree that, in a sense, we create our own world. But it's not a separate world the same way, except in certain cases of mental illness. Rather, it's something of a shared narrative that overlaps a lot with others.

stream

Nov 11, 2023

Tikun Olam Wasn’t that what I was doing all along? But , I didn’t know that I was God. I did not even know if it was okay to feel everything. To feel all of their pangs and tickles, to synchronize my breath with the ones who were dying, or even to gush my tears when bathing in the glowing aura of a newborn’s entrance. The need for justice certainly arose early yet my calls for help which were masked expressions of love came out as whining or violent uncontrolled thrashings that resulted in isolation that made any possibility of effectiveness or even expression hopeless. The work I did in caves of course was unseen and dimly remembered. Yet , there was a beginning, a melting into some communal pool, a chipping of the shell through which the light could enter in. And there were bells. Church, school, news, harbingers, temple bells in the scrub trees of a Himalyan dawn, and rocks ringing in cascades, and laughter of children feeling something untai... View full comment

Jagdish P Dave

Nov 10, 2023

"Yatha drushti tatha srushti" is an old wise saying in Sanskrit. As is my vision so is my world. What is my vision made of? Is it made up of my self interst, self- seving purpose then my world view will be narow. If my vision of the world is shaped by going beyond my self-seving purpose, then a transfomation takes place in my outlook, actions and ways of living my life. I transcend my ego-what is in for me, and I go beyond my self-serving narow world. I feel othes are me. My consciousness becomes larger and higher. I go thriving beyond surving. I feel a part of the lager world, a citizen of the univese. A universe in which we relate to each other as brothers and sisters. Going beyond onself is a spiritual journey. It has not been easy for me to go beyond myself. My parents were good role models for me. I learned from them how to live spiritually, how to serve others unselfishly, how to go beyond my self -serving thinking and behaving. How not get atteched to my egoistic desires, thin... View full comment

David Doane

Nov 10, 2023

Wonderful title "Mistaking the world we've made for the real world," and I in the world we've made agree with it. It was probably in middle middle age, more than 20 years ago, that I began to become aware that I see and am conditioned to see a very thin slice of the whole spectrum of what is, and think that is the entire spectrum. I began being aware that my thoughts are within a narrow range that is survival enhancing and survival limiting and even survival threatening. I think the full range would be too much for my limited human self, but the range we created is too narrow -- we do some throwing the baby out with the bath water, some cutting off from the neck down to save our head. What helps me to wake up, see and hear more than my projection is searching, being open, paying attention, discussing, listening, reading, reflecting. I think searching and being open are major ingredients.