miyensays

[miyensays]

Two Worlds

Academic paper submitted in my Philosophy Class

Plato proposes the existence of two worlds: Physical or the Visible World and Intellectual or the Intelligible World. A number of people oppose Plato’s Theory about the reality of an intelligible world mainly because such realm is not visible into the naked eye.  

However, it is my belief that these two worlds exist. The burden of proof lies not to us who believe in the existence of such but rather lies on those who believe that there is only one world, earth and nothing more.

The Visible World as defined by Plato is the physical objects below the Metaphor of the Divided Line. They get the reality that they posses by their participation in the Forms. Forms on the other hand are ideas belonging on the Intellectual world where the truth is absolute, and can be attained by means of reasoning. Our physical bodies are part of the Visible World while our souls or minds link us to the intellectual realm.

To those who claim that there is only one world, I’d like to address some questions. If we are confined only, here on earth, how would they explain dreams, wherein our physical body is absent in the occurrence of such? How about déjà vu, astral projection?

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. According to Deirdre Barrett, dreaming is simply ‘thinking in a different biochemical state’, this idea lead me to conclude that even in the absence of our physical body, our mind still tend to process unconsciously, involuntarily, which somehow proves the existence of another dimension, a different state.

Plato established the immortality of soul, which implies that the soul has been through many earthly lives and many periods of existence outside the body, from this came the idea of knowledge as a recollection which was related to Hobson’s Theory of the activation-synthesis which hypothesizes that the peculiar nature of dreams is attributed to certain parts of the brain trying to piece together a story out of what is essentially bizarre information. As the soul from the intellectual world is immortal, as Plato believed it to be, has been born again and has seen things in the underworld, there is nothing which it has not learned, but since we are in the visible world, in which things are just replicas of the Pure Forms, it has never achieved a perfect replication and therefore less real, less pure to the extent that it would, somehow appear only on our dreams as shattered images and missing pieces of the real picture. Sometimes, it would be in a form of déjà vu which attributes the feeling of having previously seen or experienced something to having dreamt about a similar situation or place, and forgetting about it until one seems to be mysteriously reminded of the situation or the place while awake.

As for Astral Projection, it is an out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an astral body separated from the physical body and capable of travelling outside it. In this case, the physical body is again absent, but there is an entity that exists that can function, that can live even without the physical aspect, which may lead anyone to question, where does that came from? Where would that entity go? Are they existing bodies to be discovered or we create them? According to Plato, forms in the intellectual world are not mental entities, nor even mind-dependent. They are independently existing entities whose existence and nature are graspable only by the mind.

I also believe in two worlds not because I saw the intellectual realm but because I was introduced to the word perfection. As Plato again claimed, Forms, by definition are those things that are possibly wholly unity of being, things such as beauty and justice. If such realm does not exist, where do you think the ‘longing of perfection’ of people will come from, considering the fact that we are born in this imperfect world? Would we even know the word imperfect? Would we have creative thinkers and philosophers who can think outside the box, outside this dimension?

Two worlds exist, with or without a biblical perspective.

[miyensays]

Earthgrazers (ChanBaek fanfiction by lotusk)

Reader-response

I have always deemed that a good story is something logical. Those stories that present questions reader would anticipate then packaged the answers in a literary and a captivating manner. More often than not, I would call unanswered questions ‘plot holes’ then label the story as something close to ineffective. But the universe, in all its powers, introduced me to a story where questions does not matter.

Inspired by Ruby Sparks, Earthgrazers refer to the meteor shower in which the whole story revolved. Baekhyun, a fictional character of Chanyeol (or that’s what he claimed Baekhyun to be), appeared out of nowhere after Chanyeol’s mutters of wishes to have his own Baekhyun in real life. After that meteor shower, the story begins to twist. Under normal circumstances, I would have asked for – or expected, an explanation as to why it happened. But no, it only strengthen the idea that the universe, indeed, is magical. And magic, sometimes, is the only thing we can comprehend.

The story set-up is endearing enough. However, even though the story is very magical, it was the characters which made it more real. The very character of Chanyeol and Baekhyun are very well established. Both writers and readers alike can feel and understand Chanyeol’s great drought in his writing career (and I hope readers could understand the struggles of fan fic writers for not updating stories according to the readers’ desired pace). Baekhyun, who seems to stick to his light power concept since Mama Era, guided Chanyeol’s way both in writing and in living. Moreover, the characters are not just characters who are in love but I see the things they symbolize. Metaphors. In real life, Chanyeol can be someone who is lost, unmotivated, and hopeless. Baekhyun, on the other hand, seems to be someone who gives others something to hold on to. It suffices to say that their characterization effectively captures relationships. And by relationship, I do not only mean romantic.

As the story progresses, I was unaware that I am sharing the same feelings with Chanyeol. Don’t ask, don’t halt, don’t stop just go for it. He did not ask the universe why or how or what, but instead, he focused on living. Living with Baekhyun. It forwards another notion that everything is not for us to understand and sometimes, you have to enjoy and live with what you have.

Also, I get to understand that no matter how powerful words are, as manifested in Chanyeol’s wishes coming true, there are also limitations a writer experiences. But I see this limitation as a strength. Chanyeol could have written things he would want about Baekhyun. But no, he gave Baekhyun the liberty to live. And had I been given the same chance – for a character of mine to come to life, I would have done the same thing. I will let him have his share of life. After all, life is a gift.

There are questions I want would want to ask, but I halted myself and ask rather, does it matter? I feel like questioning the rationality of the story would be questioning the powers of the universe to create such wonderful things people call magic. The story is light and tranquil, not the usual drama people always crave for. However, albeit light and tranquil, ‘Earthgrazers’ gives you so much to ponder about life and universe in general.

I see no plot holes…. Only magic.