External vs Internal
The VR contruct is personal to you. It is an immediate product of your interaction with the "out there." It is not the "out there" but it is constructed in conjunction with the "out there."
Consider the light from a distant star. When you "look" at a starry night the distant star that you see is not actually out there. In fact, there's a distinct possibility that the star you are looking at no longer exists. So what is it that you are looking at? It's the light that made it all the way to your eye.
You are looking back in time, in a sense, except that you are not time traveling. The light has traveled through time and distance to get to you. The item you refer to in your mind as 'the star you are looking at' is a product of the external world interacting with your eye. Interacting with you. You created this star with help from the external world.
The external world you perceive directly as your personal Virtual Reality Construct is not "out there." It is representative of "out there" but differs in many ways. One of the demonstrable ways is that it is localized in space and time to yourself whereas the "out there" is not. The star you are seeing may no longer exist; yet for you, it exists as the light it cast off millions of years ago. "Out there" (whatever that means) it is gone but for you it is still real and existing. In this way the dissonance between what you see and what is "out there" can be demonstrated.
Light from a mountain a mile away is the same. Light from the house across the street is the same. Light from your computer screen you are looking at right now is the same. The sound of you typing is the same. The sound of your own voice is the same. This particular difference is much, much more subtle in the everyday items but it is there just the same.
The thought you are thinking right now is not the same.
Consider the light from a distant star. When you "look" at a starry night the distant star that you see is not actually out there. In fact, there's a distinct possibility that the star you are looking at no longer exists. So what is it that you are looking at? It's the light that made it all the way to your eye.
You are looking back in time, in a sense, except that you are not time traveling. The light has traveled through time and distance to get to you. The item you refer to in your mind as 'the star you are looking at' is a product of the external world interacting with your eye. Interacting with you. You created this star with help from the external world.
The external world you perceive directly as your personal Virtual Reality Construct is not "out there." It is representative of "out there" but differs in many ways. One of the demonstrable ways is that it is localized in space and time to yourself whereas the "out there" is not. The star you are seeing may no longer exist; yet for you, it exists as the light it cast off millions of years ago. "Out there" (whatever that means) it is gone but for you it is still real and existing. In this way the dissonance between what you see and what is "out there" can be demonstrated.
Light from a mountain a mile away is the same. Light from the house across the street is the same. Light from your computer screen you are looking at right now is the same. The sound of you typing is the same. The sound of your own voice is the same. This particular difference is much, much more subtle in the everyday items but it is there just the same.
The thought you are thinking right now is not the same.
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