Creative Speculation

Ask them to sing an "A," and they will sing an "A" right, perfectly in tune every time. You probably cannot do that. I can come close, but I can't do it every single time. On the other hand if I hear a note, I can usually tell you what it is.

I obviously learned to associate a sound with the name of a note. And that means that my brain formed so as to be able to do that.

Now, I can't see further than a few feet in front of me without a lot of help from the science of optics. That's also something a little strange and not average about the way my brain formed. If I didn't have glasses, I would think that the world beyond those few feet didn't exist, and people who told me about it were crazy. You can't prove it to me, I would say.

What is more, I am partly color-blind. Wow! That means that I see the world a little differently than most people. I cannot even imagine the colors I cannot see.

So, I cannot say whether some brains are tuned to perceive reality in a different way -- whether more accurately or less accurately than my own. I cannot know whether certain animals, with their heightened sense, let's say of sight or hearing or smell or just instinct can know the world and experience many things that I cannot.

I have recently heard that scientists have discovered that birds have some way of perceiving direction and radar through a means that we did not previously recognize.

Humans have not yet reached the state of total knowledge.

So, while we may not have proof that some of the "strange," inexplicable experiences that some of us have are true or merely imagination or coincidence, if they happen to us, we cannot dismiss them as mere figments of our imagination. They may be merely imagined, but they may not.

So, we just observe and stay alert to the real world and try to live in it with our feet on the ground but without fear of experiencing things we cannot explain.

It's called staying sane in an insane universe. Or, alternatively, admitting ignorance and wonder in an all-knowing and amazing universe. Take your pick, but if something happens to you, you will know that it happened. And if not, good for you. You can live in the certainty of knowing that there is nothing beyond your understanding.

I don't mean to insult you. I really mean that we don't have much choice about these things, so we should be happy and live with our feet on the ground whether we experience strange things or not.