ANALYSIS of an OPTICAL ILLUSION

An optical illusion, such as of an apparent bent straw in a glass of water, is caused by the different speeds of light as it passes through water and air. This condition causes the straw to appear to bend at the surface of the water.

Many judge optical illusions to be unreal, but actually there is nothing unreal about an optical illusion. When one sees a bend in a straw in a glass of water, one actually sees a mental representation of a "bend." Bends are real, and are observed in many things every day. The mental representation of the "bend" is just as real as a mental image as is a sensory perception of a "bend." The only difference is that the one is in the mind and the other comes into the mind.

One may object that the apparent bend in the straw is not real because there is no actual bend in the straw. But this objection is directed to that which is "not real" and not to the real "bend" in the straw. There is a big difference between that which is "not real" and the reality of a mental representation. The combination called "no actual bend" simply means that the mind, despite the real mental representation of a "bend," is fully aware that the straw is actually straight.

There is an unreality to this optical illusion but the "unreal" is different than the "bend" seen in the straw. The mind habitually covers the "unreal" with a real mental representation. In this case, it is a real mental representation of a "bend" in the straw. What then is this unreality in this optical illusion? In a strict sense, the "not real" of this optical illusion adheres to the falsity of this combination of real entities called an "optical illusion." In other words, the mind realizes that this combination of real entities do not belong together. There exists a falsity to the combination which effects a sense of "nothingness." This "nothingness" cannot be seen, and yet the mind is aware of it. How? The mind possesses an innate "idea of nothing," and one of the uses of this "idea of nothing" is that the mind employs it to represent unreality. The mind never directly observes unreality in any way. The closest the mind can come to observing unreality is if the mind were in a coma. Unreality is equivalent to absolute nothingness.

This description means that this optical illusion consists of a false combination of real representations. The unreality lies behind the falsity. How does the mind recognize this falsity? The mind recognizes it because it is simply the same as the idea of nothing which represents unreality. In other words, the "falsity" lies in the "nothingness" inherent in the false combination itself, and not in any of the real representations.

All of these descriptions put together seems to indicate that the mind has been geared to recognize nothing but the real. All that the mind observes or thinks is real. The mind can observe or invent false combinations of real appearances or ideas, but even "falsity" is a real idea that indicates the real "idea of nothing," which, in turn, indicates an unreality which is never experienced.

For all these reasons, one can make the judgment that all optical illusions, hallucinations, mistaken identities and dreams are nothing more than false combinations of real observations or ideas. In fact, the unreality of any false combination is never observed.

( As a challenge to the mathematicians of the veracity of these conclusions, let them try this experiment. When they do their higher calculations, let a zero indicate the idea of nothing, a negative number indicate absolute nothingness or chaos, an ordinary number indicate finite reality and an infinity indicate an infinite reality. The result of this experiment should produce a much clearer view of reality.)