The purpose of this blog is open eyes and minds at the Shabbat table. Please print and share...
Happy Birthday shoutout to Marc A., Lily K, and Joel W.!
Everyone knows that two people can see the same thing differently.
For instance, a certain world leader who sees what he wants to see.
So try this one at your table:
"Point to where you see me."
Most people will of course point straight at you, because they don't realize it's a trick question.
Here's another way of asking the question... Hold up an image - of any common object, it doesn't matter what; let's say of a chair, and say, "Do you see this chair?"
Then point to an actual chair and say, "How is looking at an image of a chair different than looking at a chair?"
After they ponder that one, here's the clincher:
When you look at something, what you're really looking at is light that is bouncing off that object, entering your eye, stimulating nerves, which send an electrical signal to the back of your brain, where your brain forms an experience that we call an image. You may be looking at me over here, but you're seeing me in the back of your head!
This fact of anatomy raises a difficult question for your table. It means that seeing = interpreting; it also implies that seeing = believing. But can seeing ever = knowing?
Shabbat Shalom
Enjoyed this Table Talk? Vote with your fingers! Like it, tweet it, forward it....For instance, a certain world leader who sees what he wants to see.
So try this one at your table:
"Point to where you see me."
Most people will of course point straight at you, because they don't realize it's a trick question.
Here's another way of asking the question... Hold up an image - of any common object, it doesn't matter what; let's say of a chair, and say, "Do you see this chair?"
Then point to an actual chair and say, "How is looking at an image of a chair different than looking at a chair?"
After they ponder that one, here's the clincher:
When you look at something, what you're really looking at is light that is bouncing off that object, entering your eye, stimulating nerves, which send an electrical signal to the back of your brain, where your brain forms an experience that we call an image. You may be looking at me over here, but you're seeing me in the back of your head!
This fact of anatomy raises a difficult question for your table. It means that seeing = interpreting; it also implies that seeing = believing. But can seeing ever = knowing?
Shabbat Shalom
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