Thus humans are imaginary in the same sense that the Big Dipper is imaginary. — Michael Gagnon
Through an act of imagination, one can draw a boundary around a star formation and call it the “Big Dipper.” The Big Dipper does not inherently exist; rather, it is merely a concept that requires an act of imagination. If all life in the universe suddenly died, then there would be no one to draw the boundary, and therefore the Big Dipper would cease to exist. The concept of the Big Dipper can only exist in living minds. In this sense, the Big Dipper is imaginary.
In the same way, each human is merely a grouping of particles. Thus humans are imaginary in the same sense that the Big Dipper is imaginary. — Michael Gagnon
It is always a dead end and somewhat of a punt when a philosophical model resorts to illusion of some sort. I simply believe in this case the Buddhist writings are being translated and interpreted incorrectly as often is the case with Doaist writings. — Rich
The Big Dipper is a state of memory with a certain firm that is very real in one's memory. Memory is real. It is not an illusion. If necessary, one can make it more concrete and call it a energetic holographic pattern created by our mind. — Rich
We c are not an illusion but a construct of energy patterns. — Rich
For example, consider a laptop. It seems like a single machine. But when you connect two laptops together via an ethernet cable we can conceptualize the "two" laptops as a single machine. The difference between seeing them as one, and seeing them as two is purely a matter imagination and convention. — Michael Gagnon
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