- Sep 22, 2013
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When we look in a mirror, we see a reflection of the world we know around us. The image we see in the mirror is merely a reversed-image of the real world. Of course we know this. However, many philosophers have posited intriguing notions that seeing a 'synthetic image' of the real world or real objects may suggest the 'existence' of a parallel universe we only see in our own universe as 'images/reflections in a mirror.'
Mirror philosophy is well-documented and has become popular and is even alluded to by creative-writers who wish to talk about the proverbial 'dark half' of the psyche. Lewis Carroll talked about his precocious Alice walking through a mirror and encountering a strange cryptic creature called the Jabberwocky which challenges her notions of recognizable animalia.
In Ancient Egypt, great kings created elaborate tombs and pyramids with fancy hieroglyphs of strange and exotic man-beasts such as the wolf-headed Anubis who seemed larger (similar to the Biblical 'Nephilim'). These hieroglyphic artistic renderings of 'other-worldly' beings also beckoned our human imagination of 'parallel or alternate' realities.
In the comic book adapted cartoon series, Challenge of the Superfriends, America's beloved superheroes (e.g., Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) discover a parallax reality across an 'axis of dimensionality' that sends them into an alternate universe in which they encounter the evil counterparts of themselves (e.g., Evil Superman, Evil Wonder Woman, etc.).
While it is engaging or even entertaining to think of what may comprise of a 'parallel/parallax' universe on the flipside of a mirror that beckons a completely different reality, we might discover that this alternate universe hides an entirely different kind of consciousness. For example, we might discover that the 'Earth' on the other side of the mirror has a copper-colored sky (instead of blue) and that some humans/humanoids are larger in size (like Biblical 'Nephilim'), some may be cannibals(!), and some may be much more intelligent and/or attractive or beautiful(!) than us. How would we resist the urge to reside in such a place where there are much more beautiful beings?
The most accessible way to dissect this perspective on 'alternative forms' of reality and strange/parallel 'beings' who reflect ourselves is to consider in what ways the universe we know (on this real-world side of the mirror!) is somehow safe, sanguine, and sacred, while crossing this 'hypothetical axis' of reality would send us hurtling into a parallax/parallel universe that is alien or more exotic/attractive than our own and from which we would never again be allowed to return! We could therefore posit that such a 'place' is somehow 'darker' or 'more mysterious' than our own and hence something to avoid completely!
If the Ancient Egyptians had stumbled upon this 'axis' and explored various strange forms of beings (e.g., the Anubis) that could exist in a parallax/parallel universe, perhaps the lessons of Egypt being swept up by the winds and vanishing as a civilization should suggest to modern-day philosophers that intimations of alternate realities/universes is something of a more metaphysical rather than physical nature and hence not something to invest in too much (in terms of intellectual labors).
For example, if you're a married man and discover that an identical woman on the flipside of the axis of the mirror (of reality) is much more sensual or sexual, you might be irreversibly tempted to leave your wife and life behind to consummate your fantasies with this identical woman on that 'other side.' Here, we see rather convenient configurations of a 'dark side' characterization of a hypothetical 'parallax universe.'
That is why many mirror-philosophers have argued that presenting alternate/parallax universes as 'dark sides' of cognition can help humans better appreciate why analogical reasoning and convenient categorization of recognizable objects (or 'known forms') leads us to 'stable/predictable' perceptions of intelligence.
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GOOD BATMAN: The world/Earth I know is one of sharing and water.
EVIL BATMAN: My world is one of copper and lust...
GOOD BATMAN: The people in my world/Earth are brothers and sisters!
EVIL BATMAN: My world is full of beings of great ambition and humor...
GOOD BATMAN: In Ancient Egypt, humans experimented with geometry.
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps aliens or alternate beings from our world visited Egypt!
GOOD BATMAN: From Egypt we learned an appreciation of great architecture/art.
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps the art/architecture in our world is more 'exotic' to your eyes!
GOOD BATMAN: I'd rather live in the world I know than explore an 'alien existence.'
EVIL BATMAN: You would even deny yourself the love of a more beautiful woman?
GOOD BATMAN: The women in my world/Earth are sufficiently 'attractive.'
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps our world is then simply too mysterious for your mind.
GOOD BATMAN: I can only conceive of such a mysterious world as a 'dark side.'
EVIL BATMAN: Sometimes darkness is a mystery only because it's unexplored...
GOOD BATMAN: Perhaps cognition in my world is best defined as 'arithmetic.'
EVIL BATMAN: I concede we are of differing 'dream-states.'
====
Mirror philosophy is well-documented and has become popular and is even alluded to by creative-writers who wish to talk about the proverbial 'dark half' of the psyche. Lewis Carroll talked about his precocious Alice walking through a mirror and encountering a strange cryptic creature called the Jabberwocky which challenges her notions of recognizable animalia.
In Ancient Egypt, great kings created elaborate tombs and pyramids with fancy hieroglyphs of strange and exotic man-beasts such as the wolf-headed Anubis who seemed larger (similar to the Biblical 'Nephilim'). These hieroglyphic artistic renderings of 'other-worldly' beings also beckoned our human imagination of 'parallel or alternate' realities.
In the comic book adapted cartoon series, Challenge of the Superfriends, America's beloved superheroes (e.g., Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman) discover a parallax reality across an 'axis of dimensionality' that sends them into an alternate universe in which they encounter the evil counterparts of themselves (e.g., Evil Superman, Evil Wonder Woman, etc.).
While it is engaging or even entertaining to think of what may comprise of a 'parallel/parallax' universe on the flipside of a mirror that beckons a completely different reality, we might discover that this alternate universe hides an entirely different kind of consciousness. For example, we might discover that the 'Earth' on the other side of the mirror has a copper-colored sky (instead of blue) and that some humans/humanoids are larger in size (like Biblical 'Nephilim'), some may be cannibals(!), and some may be much more intelligent and/or attractive or beautiful(!) than us. How would we resist the urge to reside in such a place where there are much more beautiful beings?
The most accessible way to dissect this perspective on 'alternative forms' of reality and strange/parallel 'beings' who reflect ourselves is to consider in what ways the universe we know (on this real-world side of the mirror!) is somehow safe, sanguine, and sacred, while crossing this 'hypothetical axis' of reality would send us hurtling into a parallax/parallel universe that is alien or more exotic/attractive than our own and from which we would never again be allowed to return! We could therefore posit that such a 'place' is somehow 'darker' or 'more mysterious' than our own and hence something to avoid completely!
If the Ancient Egyptians had stumbled upon this 'axis' and explored various strange forms of beings (e.g., the Anubis) that could exist in a parallax/parallel universe, perhaps the lessons of Egypt being swept up by the winds and vanishing as a civilization should suggest to modern-day philosophers that intimations of alternate realities/universes is something of a more metaphysical rather than physical nature and hence not something to invest in too much (in terms of intellectual labors).
For example, if you're a married man and discover that an identical woman on the flipside of the axis of the mirror (of reality) is much more sensual or sexual, you might be irreversibly tempted to leave your wife and life behind to consummate your fantasies with this identical woman on that 'other side.' Here, we see rather convenient configurations of a 'dark side' characterization of a hypothetical 'parallax universe.'
That is why many mirror-philosophers have argued that presenting alternate/parallax universes as 'dark sides' of cognition can help humans better appreciate why analogical reasoning and convenient categorization of recognizable objects (or 'known forms') leads us to 'stable/predictable' perceptions of intelligence.
====
GOOD BATMAN: The world/Earth I know is one of sharing and water.
EVIL BATMAN: My world is one of copper and lust...
GOOD BATMAN: The people in my world/Earth are brothers and sisters!
EVIL BATMAN: My world is full of beings of great ambition and humor...
GOOD BATMAN: In Ancient Egypt, humans experimented with geometry.
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps aliens or alternate beings from our world visited Egypt!
GOOD BATMAN: From Egypt we learned an appreciation of great architecture/art.
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps the art/architecture in our world is more 'exotic' to your eyes!
GOOD BATMAN: I'd rather live in the world I know than explore an 'alien existence.'
EVIL BATMAN: You would even deny yourself the love of a more beautiful woman?
GOOD BATMAN: The women in my world/Earth are sufficiently 'attractive.'
EVIL BATMAN: Perhaps our world is then simply too mysterious for your mind.
GOOD BATMAN: I can only conceive of such a mysterious world as a 'dark side.'
EVIL BATMAN: Sometimes darkness is a mystery only because it's unexplored...
GOOD BATMAN: Perhaps cognition in my world is best defined as 'arithmetic.'
EVIL BATMAN: I concede we are of differing 'dream-states.'
====
