My friend who was trying to get a job in UK did his IELTS recently and he got to talk about mirrors. It occurred to me mirrors and reflectors had indeed created fascinating reflections with a lot of memories in me over the years. What is there to talk about mirrors other than they reflect light?
Mirrors and reflectors - in the Jungle.
Have you seen the experiment when they keep a mirror in the middle of the jungle? In the opposite side hidden behind a bush a secret camera, recording everything. Animals unlike in the zoo, are not exposed to reflections much not from a mirror, so when they see their own reflections lot of them have reactions, thinking that there is an animal behind the mirror. Some got scared and some got angry, some got curious and went on investigating. Hardly any animal recognized it was their own reflection that they saw. But I am sure kept it long enough, looking at it long enough they would understand that the harmlessness of the reflection.
Mirrors and reflectors - kaleidoscopes.
We used to make kaleidoscopes when we were kids. Finding equal sized three mirrors was the difficult part. Once found they were used to make a prism and to the bottom a transparent paper is glued. When tiny colorful pieces of any material put inside the prison, we could see the reflections it creates. Although only few things were put inside, it reflects multiple times on its own, world and create wonderful patterns. These flowery patterns are different from each other, even if it is moved around slowly. And I could remember it was almost a non-tiring game to look at these patterns. Just Like watching you Tube videos. It feels like the same game, as we are always curious to see what new pattern it will bring next, into our vision.
Mirrors and reflectors - of mine and yours.
Along the way over the years, I have seen many more reflectors and reflections. I have seen projectors, which are used in our lecture halls. From old ones to modern smart Projectors. I have seen television screens, and I have seen the moon through telescopes, birds' thorough binoculars and more importantly I have seen all these with my eyes. Which are reflectors themselves. I had the opportunity to sit down and learn intricate details about cornea the iris and the Lense and their curvatures. I learnt about the rods and cones and their adequate stimuli which create similar projections to a camera. I would invite you to remind your reflections, where have you been. Maybe you have been to the north Pole and the south Pole. Maybe you are an astronomer who have been to the space or the moon. Maybe you are a solider who used to use IR cameras and night vision goggles. Maybe you are a deep-sea diver, who used to film corals and flocks of fish for Nature Planet. Or maybe you are a biologist using the microscope daily to see microbes in thin agar Plates. Maybe you are just a child who loves to blow soap bubbles, and still, you would see reflections unless you are blind.
Reflections of mind
Let's imagine you are away from your mirrors and lenses and soap bubbles. Since the morning since you opened your eyes today you have been seeing reflections which were made by your eyes. That is one window in our prison, to the outside world. As trying to be a mindful person, I see these reflections too. Just like the monkey Infront of the mirror, I see myself being happy and being sad and being angry and scared throughout the day, from these reflections. Really when I think about this, I notice this is what I have been doing since the day I have born to the moment of writing this. And Just I laughed like at the monkeys and animals who fool themselves Infront of the mirror who cannot see reflections as reflections. Why should I fear? How do we understand the philosophy of reflections.
Where was the Toad? Philosophy of reflections
Like yesterday, when I was walking to the bathroom, I saw a toad. hopping towards it to get a bath himself. I got afraid and I climbed on to a chair. I know, silly right? Ethics shouldn't have aesthetic criteria. I looked at the toad from the top of my chair again, noticed the reflection inside me which helped to identify the 'Frog' And I looked everywhere inside the brain to see a real frog. I could not see the real frog, no matter how much I searched there was only the reflection. Whatever the thing which was outside which created the reflection wasn't accessible with my senses. Maybe there was a frog, and maybe there wasn't.
Of course you would tell me, If I touched the frog, I would have felt it there. The problem is If I closed my eyes, I would feel something soft and I wouldn't be able to identify or separate it from the skin of a frog to skin of a human. Can we get over this problem? How can we really prove there is something there outside in the world if we only see is the reflections inside the mirror since we were born? Truth is nobody would ever be able to.
Although we live in a world which is agreed upon to be true, we all are stuck in our won relative worlds. Unfortunately, nobody can go out, or come inside this world. Consciousness is just like a mirror, which reflect what is outside through our senses. And it even reflects on itself like in a Kaleidoscope. And if I tell you there is only a mirror and nothing else, I would be lying as reflections do not happen without something outside. These reflections are not the real things either, have you ever thought about this. I think this previous article about mental objects would make more sense now, as it does to me.
More you would find in the story of the scarecrow.
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