Lately I’ve been pondering the difference between what is real versus what we often think of as real based on our perception. One of the factors that has weighed heavily in these pondering has been the speed of light. The speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second (I had to look it up). That is mind bogglingly fast. I don’t really have any way of truly grasping how fast that is. It is so fast that it appears to be instantaneous, which, in fact, is often how we think of it. Most of the time in the course of the everyday living of our lives we tend to simply not think about it at all. We see something and there is an unconscious assumption that what we are seeing is happening in that instant. But that’s not really how it works – almost but not quite. The way we “see” something is that light hits our optic nerve, which sends a signal to our brain, which then does a bunch of crazy stuff that results in us perceiving the image as something we are seeing. All of that is happening at roughly the speed of light, which, as I said, is so crazy fast that it seems to be instantaneous. But it’s not. It’s so fast that it might as well be, but it’s not. There is some ridiculously small, micro-nanosecond bit of elapsed time between when the reflected light left the face of the person we’re talking to who is standing in front of us and when the signal of that light reaches our brain. What I am “seeing” is from the past. In the very, very, very, very near past, but the past none-the-less. So my perception of what is real, does not quite match what is actually real in any given moment. It’s not enough of a difference to cause any real problems most of the time. I can go through my life just unconsciously assuming that my perceptions represent what is actually going on, but it has been interesting for me to consider this difference between perception and reality, however minuscule the difference might be. Then my pondering slipped a bit further through Alice’s looking glass. I realized that there are times when perception does not match reality, but I’m aware of it. I’m looking at a star and then a cloud passes in front of it. I can no longer see the star, but I know that it is still there shining somewhere on the other side of the passing cloud. I don’t have to think about it (much). I just know that’s what’s happening. Except, once again, that’s not really what’s happening either, because the star I am “looking” at might not even be there any more. I’ve been hearing news lately that the red supergiant star Betelgeuse (located in the constellation Orion) is nearing the end of its stellar life. Scientists think it’s about to go super nova, which will, apparently be quite the spectacular show when it happens. But, if they are correct in their calculations, then it likely has already happened, because Betelgeuse is located roughly 640 light-years from Earth. The light we are looking at left that star 640 years ago. We are traveling back in time (at least visually) when we look at the night sky. For the purposes of living our lives without being overwhelmed by such thoughts in every moment, it is often easier to just “pretend” that what we experience with our senses is happening in “real time.” But occasionally my mind goes wondering off on its own, and ponderings like this one are the result. You may now resume pretending that what’s happening in front of you is happening in the same moment your brain says it’s happening. Carry on.

Addendum:
Later in the evening, after I had posted this piece, something else occurred to me – a lesson of sorts. No matter how much we know (and we often know quite a lot), and no matter how much we understand (and we often understand quite a lot), there will ALWAYS be more to the picture than we have the capacity to see, or know, or understand. And I, for one, count that as very comforting good news indeed. And now I’m going to bed.