I believe that we are fooled by media and the movies that we watch, just like the men in the cave that were not able to turn their heads, but just watch what was put before them. In media we will normally just accept what we read or watch to be true and not dig more into it or try and gain more knowledge on the facts. In movies, the producers or the actors are all trying to convey a meaning that we just watch, and because we admire these actors/actresses/ producers, we follow along with what they say or do. I believe that sometimes we do believe that fiction is fact, especially if an “important” person says that it is real. I say “important” because different people are important to everyone. Just a few years ago, we were told that the American Dream was to get married, have a family, purchase a house, and have a dog. Even now I’m sure most of us have this in our minds as being the “perfect” lifestyle. But who made this concept up? Who put these ideas into our minds? Unfortunately, it’s the movies we watch, the books we read, the social media influences. More modern influences have been leaning more towards acceptance of LGBTQ and accepting everyone. What if tomorrow an “important” influence decides that it would be acceptable if everyone dated and had offspring with their cousins and animals. The big producers would then put this into movies and people would write books about the topics. We would all change our mindset just because they were saying it was alright, rather than looking at facts and seeing that that is not good for many reasons.
When looking at the question: “Is the physical world real” we need to look at what is the definition of “real” to you? To me “real” could mean I believe something is not just physical but also spiritual or conceptual. But according to the Webster Dictionary*, real means, “occurring or existing in actuality”. If you ask me, is the physical world real, I would say yes. But everyone’s answer could be different. I believe that the world is real because for me I am here, able to touch the earth and the people around me. The earth and people connect me to this world which makes it real to me.
*https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/real word count: 395
Barista's approach 