Of course it is happening inside your head Harry, but why on Earth should that mean that it is not real.- Albus Dumbledore
The iconic quote from Professor Albus Dumbledore as he meets Harry Potter in a limbo like state on what seemed to be a "heavenly" version of the platform 9 and three quarters in the King's Cross Station, London.
I find this exchange amusing and at the same time quite thought provoking. Was it just a simple fun remark, or perhaps something even deeper than that. After all it was in the 7th book of the series, the deathly hallows where we bid our farewell to the boy who lived, and as a recognition of the memories we made together through his seven year journey through the trails of the wizarding school.
It may be a remark added by the author as a recognition of the support of her fans and what this story means in their life. After all from a realists perspective, it's nothing more than bundled pages with some words written in it. Words that narrate a story which isn't a retelling of any historical event in common memory but of a fantasy. So all those memories, and feelings we had, through this magical journey were all artificial? It could not be, right?
After all we experienced them even if it doesn't fit in the common definition of "real". I mean our whole understanding of what is "real" comes from our experience. Experience is dependent on perception. Perception is enabled by senses. So by this I may conclude that our understanding of reality is sensory in nature. If I were to draw an analogy, the mechanism of human sight if it were to be explained in simplest terms would be: Light from the object enters the eye falls on photoreceptors on retina exciting them. The excited photoreceptors stimulate the optic nerve which relays the stimulus to the visual processing area of the brain. Which then based on the stimuli creates an image. Now I'm not confident if you noticed or not. But our sight may not be what the world is out there. In fact, how do we define the world in our understanding? Like I said our experience of reality is limited by our sensory perception. We can perceive the world only through our five senses. And it doesn't show us the truth but what I like to call a story of the truth.
Because we are limited in our sensory capabilities. So everything we understand to be reality, if I may try to use softer words, in definition may be untrue.
So the question stands what is reality then. Well the only right answer I have for you is: I don't know. Any assumptions I put forward here would be a lie and an attempt at deception. But if I can tell you something, it would be to think upon this.
Is reality constant for everyone?
After all everything we perceive is an image created in our brain based on what I would like to believe stimuli from the "external world". Everything you see, hear, listen, touch and taste are also mere "constructed images" in your head. So is your reality really real? There is an interesting tale from ancient India that encapsulates this with an allegory. The experience of Maharaja Janak and Ashtavakra Muni.
Coming back to the quote from the deathly hallows. If you can experience something let's say in a dream and then you wake up to "reality". Does it become false? You experienced it right? Just because your "real" world is more constant in your experience, does it mean your experience in the dream state was a lie?
Don't everything you experience happen in your head?
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