Hold any object your hand. Science tells us that it reflects light, has weight, has density. Your senses tell you the object is indeed there, it has an odor, a texture – possibly even a flavor.  Now, put the object down and close your eyes.   

 

Where is the object?  We could say that “the object is on the table.”   Yes we could, but in doing so we have just created an abstraction. Your experience is now represented by the words “the object is on the table”.   

 

Be they marks on a page, photons on your retinas, vibrations in your ear, sensations at your fingertips – none of these are the object – they are biological sensations that elicit a symbolic representation of an object which exists in your Imagination.  

 

So which version of the said object is more real, the supposedly physical object on the table, or the symbolic one in your mind?   

 

Before you answer, consider for a moment that this whole experiment just took place in your imagination.     

 

A moment’s further reflection will lead you to the conclusion that any thought or argument for or against this premise will only compound it’s hypothesis given that thoughts and arguments are ultimately the products of the human imagination and are brought into existence through language. 

 

A simple exercise will demonstrate this point for the laymen;