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Show WHAT HATH GOD ROT? I What is Reality? by ReX Nutting t is reality? question has bothered me ince junior high when the ryss of the clas asked it of an j teacher. Fresh out of BYU, lalpid something stupid like, will be revealed to you literature." iir people answer the ques-J ques-J saying, "What isn't?" I why realists always answer lion with a question. Wty is where the heart," say lanities. you for real?" ask humor-sop' humor-sop' ithinking ho'ograms who ap- OUF. be people. a' is reality? don't we follow the advice jenerations of teachers, who faced with a question which reveals their ignorance, tell us to look it up. The "American Heritage Dictionary Diction-ary of the English Language" defines de-fines reality as "the quality or state of being actual or true." But what is "American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language?" None claim it to be anything more than words. The "American Heritage Dictionary Dic-tionary of the English Language" lists the seventh definition of "word" as "rumor." A definition made up of rumors is of absolutely no use to us. A workable meaning of reality will be of the most use to use. Common sense tells us that reality is what you want it to be. Each person has his own view of what is real. With almost four billion human realities and trillions of animal an-imal realities, life tends to be confusing. con-fusing. Imagine a blade of grass. A reality real-ity of only dirt, sun, water, dogs, kids playing football and lawn mow ers. The Ute Stadium has lost its reality, replaced by a man saying only one thing to The Graduate, "Plastics." Reality is in the eye of the beholder. be-holder. And if you don't like that one, how about Ambrose Beirce's "reality is the dream of the mad philosopher." Cynics will say, "who cares about reality?" But as a friend of mine who looks just like John Lennon (How's that for reality? real-ity? He says I look like Yoko Ono) once said, "cynics are never satisfied, satis-fied, so I won't bother to answer that question." "Nothing is real," said the "real" John Lennon. My reality is my own fantasies where Walter Mitty and Woody Allen are King and Queen. And now I'm going to change channels and you will all disappear. disap-pear. I think I'll watch Channel 11 for a while since it picks up cable TV from Tralfamadore. What bliss. . . what serentiy . . -. All is finally quiet. |
