The Uniqueness of Personal Experience

We don’t so much see the world as it is as we see our version of the world. 

            In a very real sense, we don’t live in the physical universe; we live in our minds.  That doesn’t mean that the physical universe is imaginary.  It’s real all right, as anyone knows who sprains his ankle or burns his finger or hits his head on something hard.  But even that sprained ankle or that burned finger or that throbbing head is filtered through our minds.

            Even when engaging in a sport or doing physical labor or making love, when we’re pressed right up against the physical universe, so to speak, it’s still our version of the physical universe that we experience.  It emanates from our perspective, the reds and greens and blues we experience are our peculiar version of reds and greens and blues, the sensations are our sensations, the emotions and attitudes and purposes are ours, too, as they add shading to that experience.  I think it’s safe to say that our version of any given experience will never be quite the same as anyone else’s.