Translating Tendency: 真相大白

PERCEPTION DETERMINES REALITY

The world we know is different than that of other species. We are limited by our five senses: sight, sound, taste, smell, and touch. However, there is another tool we possess that no other species does--our mind.

"What we observe is not nature itself, but nature exposed to our method of questioning."

Physicists, like Heisenberg above, uncovered the atomic reality of our world. Everything we know is made up of protons, neutrons, and especially electrons. The negative charge at the edge of the atom makes everything possible by its coexistence with electrons of other atoms. And so, this complex network of relationships forms a web which unifies all objects into a single whole.

The Web of Life by Fritjof Capra, 1996

AN OLD IDEA

Both culturally and scientifically aware, Heisenberg found a connection.

"The great scientific contribution in theoretical physics that has come from Japan since the last war may be an indication of a certain relationship between philosophical ideas in the tradition of the Far East and the philosophical substance of quantum theory."

The original text of Daoism, the Dao De Jing (道德經), was written over two thousand years before modern science. And yet, Laozi (老子) in his wisdom already understood the unity of everything.

4

The Tao is like an empty bowl,

Which in being used can never be filled up.

Fathomless, it seems to be the origin of all things.

It blunts all sharp edges,

It unties all tangles,

It harmonizes all lights,

It unites the world into one whole.

Hidden in the deeps,

Yet seems to exist forever.

I do not know whose child it is;

It seems to be the common ancestor of all, the father of all things.

Translation by John C. H. Wu.

INTERPRETATION

I decided to translate an ordinary image into holistic vision. The photo below was taken in Taiwan. On the far left, I am working the soil of an organic farm; surrounded by life. From the grass at my feet to the dog at my shoulder, we are surrounded by different species. With a man from a Taiwan and a woman from the Dominican Republic, we are also surrounded by different cultures.

The world as we know it

As scientists, we easily understand our environment is atomic in nature; but we often err in thinking we are separate.

The atomic world

The clear definition between grass and dirt, tree and branch, has blurred. However the people and the dog must be included.

The atomic world with atomic people

Now the lines between plant and animal are less clear, but the color still fools our perception. Electrons have no color.

The atomic world with atomic people; no light

Even still, individual images are defined and easily identifiable. There are too many shades of gray. When Einstein considered reality, he decided all physical mass was really just energy.