Reality

I have come to know reality as a peculiar thing. Reality is a term loosely used to describe things as they are. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English defines reality as "The state of things as they actually exist." This is true, however it seems as though we use reality to define almost anything. But what is "real?" and furthermore what is "reality?"
When it comes to the quest for reality, people often start with either math or science, because math and science are some of the areas where there are absolutes, where there is only one right answer, and where things seem to make the most sense. I use science because of how much easier it is to understand, because it often applies to identifiable objects. When we look at physics, the Pauli Exclusion Principle shows us that "no two particles may occupy the same space simultaneously." This may sound confusing but it's basically a rule in reality that we all know. No two objects can occupy the same space at the same time. For example, if I'm walking down the street the opposite direction as you and we are walking toward each other, one of us has to move out of the other's path in order not to be bumped right? We couldn't just keep walking straight and expect to go through each other. This is a reality of physics that we have learned to accept in everyday life. We don't attempt to walk through walls or any other solid object because we already know the rules. We can bump into other objects or rest against them but we can't go through another solid object or become a part of it. It's against the laws of physics.
When it comes to our perception of reality we usually believe the things we see in front of our faces and are skeptical about things we know are staged like television, movies and some still pictures, but our reality is based on what we are experiencing in any particular moment with any or all of our senses and our interpretation about the experience, so when we see a car accident on the freeway it's our observation of a real event that took place. One might even empathize with the accident victim(s), but if we only hear about the car accident on the news it becomes a much less personal experience. We may think of it as just another sad story or an example of carelessness. But what if we never saw the accident and never heard about it? We know that X amount of people are killed in the world every year in car accidents yet we hardly ever know any of them personally. There's an unspoken disconnect between strangers that allows us to become callous to another person's misfortune. I think of it as a coping mechanism for today's generation. If we had a heavy heart about all of the crazy things that happened to others around the world we would never live our own lives to their potential. Lets not mistake this for a lack of compassion. I condone compassion for our fellow man/woman. I am just stating that other people's misfortune is not for us to dwell on, but to recognize, learn from, and move forward.
It's kind of like that age old philosophical question; "if a tree falls in the woods, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" The answer is obvious. Yes. Just because there is no human being around to witness something happen doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, it just means that we missed it. It's a very self-centered assumption to make that a sound wasn't made because I didn't hear it. However apparent, that old question still holds value because it raises a much more complex question; How much of reality is our reality and how much of reality is happening round us without our knowledge?
Let's make the distinction between general reality and your reality. As we stated earlier, Reality is things that exist the way they are, but how much of that is perceived by an actual person? And how much of reality do we hear second or third party? The news is a way to tune into other people's realities and see what happened in your area or the world today, because usually we didn't experience any of what is reported on the news. We want to know what happened so we watch on the television. Is that reality? I'd call it reality-based information because I didn't actually see it happen. They say believe none of what you hear and half of what you see, I don't particularly subscribe to that theory on information. I usually believe most of what I hear and see because pessimists and skeptics hardly seem to enjoy life enough. I do however categorize information on whether it is in my own experience, (reality) or not (third party information.) Your reality is a combination of your experiences what you tasted, saw, smelled, felt, heard, and your interpretation of those experiences.
Interpretation is the most important part of shaping your reality because the way we perceive situations makes them either enjoyable or not. Have you ever heard from a friend how great a movie was, and then when you watch it it's the worst movie you've ever seen? You both watched the same movie but you perceived the movie through a different processor. Your brain isn't the same as another person. Lets stop acting like carbon copies of each other and realize that we are each individually different. I know we hear this all the time but the actions we take are sometimes contradictory of our individuality. That's why even medications all say "individual results may vary." Each person is going to react to things their own way, so obviously each person can have a different perception on seemingly normal situations.
The reason why we all perceive things in our own way is apparently because we are born and raised by different parents and teachers. We learn differently with a myriad of learning techniques and styles, and from an endless amount of learning experiences. All of these things make us who we are and change us for the rest of our existence. We view our reality through a semi-permanent frame of reference called our past. Our past experiences determine how we behave today. A lady who was robbed in a poor neighborhood at night is a lot less likely to take a night time stroll to the "wrong side of the tracks" now. A man who has had food poisoning from his favorite burrito place may be less likely to frequent that place after his illness. The things that happen to us are stored in our memories to guide our future decisions, so what you would do in a particular situation is what the next person would do.
If the laws of physics apply to our physical realities, then there has to be some rule about our metaphysical realities. If we cannot occupy the same physical space that another person is occupying then it would seem impossible that two people can share the same mental space at the same time. Even if two people are sitting in the same room, at the same time, watching the same program on television, eating the same pizza, they won't have an identical experience. Think of a hug as getting as close to a person as possible without being inside them. You're physically touching but you're both still two separate beings voluntarily touching one another. Now think of a conversation as a mental hug. You can share pieces of your reality with another person and vice versa but you can never actually see through that person's perspective. You can analyze their position on certain topics and identify things in common with yourself but you are still you and they are still them with your own agenda, and your own lot in life.
My reality is an office environment during the day, because I work in an office. I realize that someone is out there working outside in the hot summer sun, and that is that person's daily reality. The same current events are happening in the country, we have the same president. We probably sat in the same traffic on the way to work this morning, but our realities are very different based on what we do when we get to the environment known as "work." My reality at work is also different from my reality at home. When I'm at home I leave behind the reality of my job and return to it tomorrow. Who knows, the office may have burned down over night and I may show up tomorrow and have no job to go to. I wouldn't even know that my job was gone until I got there. This changed my reality when I got to work. I expected to show up to what I am accustomed to, an in-tact office. I probably had a whole plan for my day and what I was going to do at my desk all day, but my reality has changed. I now have to adapt to the situation. Just because something is a part of my reality today doesn't mean that it will be tomorrow. Anyone can have their car stolen over night or their job taken in a day. Your reality is an ever-changing thing that only exists wherever you are located.
The question is how close is a person to you to affect your personal reality?