[thechat] what's real vs. what's pretend.

[Joe Crawford]

Ben Dyer wrote:
> What is real?  How do you define real?  If you're talking about what you
> can feel, what you can smell and see, then real is simply electrical
> signals interpreted by your brain.

Yeah, one of the pitfalls here is the subject can get philosophical real
quick (how do we distringuish between dream and reality).

I think the focus - at least for me would be on concrete reality issues:

   - is that image I'm looking at of forrest gump
     talking to richard nixon 'real'?
   - is the photo on the cover of the magazine 'real'
     if it has been manipulated to make the model thinner,
     more clear-complected?

it's more a media-literacy thing than a philosophical thing.

practicalities more than philosophy or religion. i don't see it as a
venue to debate something like visions of the Virgin Mary, etc.

i just want people to know that when they watch a commercial and a
person morphs into a werewolf, 

	 "that's pretend"

	- joe <http://artlung.com/>