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Being Perceptive

The idea of being in a state of controlled hallucination makes you wonder what that means for the art of the possible. We take in the same scene but the highlight reel looks different for each one of us. Say a group of friends as sitting on the beach, each person would focus on what matters to them - the setting sun among the clouds, the rhythm of the waves, the birds flying around, the children splashing in the water, building sand castle and so on. Depending on where the person's center of attention is, the scene would look quite different. So when one person points out the a dolphin sighting only a few others are able to tune in to see the fleeting vision. The rest miss it. This is not about hallucination but more about perspective. When aggregated over a life time, perhaps we develop our own versions of the world, our truths and lies about it. 

“Experiences of free will are perceptions. The flow of time is a perception.” 

These lines from the article are very relatable. I have yet to experience the exercise of free will in my life. I imagine others may have more agency but perhaps they don't and it is only perception. The flow of time on a day without anything planned while on vacation in an unknown city has an incredibly slowing effect on time. I recall this time recently when I decided to walk from my Airbnb to a restaurant at the other end of town so I could explore my surroundings. The others were to meet me at 7 pm and I was going to arrive at the location with a good 30 minutes to spare. The manner in which to spend that extra time made me think about the detours I could take and the minutes that would dissipate of my total of 30. At one point I sat on a park bench having found nothing else of interest and just stared ahead for five minutes. On a workday, this would be an unthinkable luxury so I made the most of it.

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