Solid as Rotten Wood: The Tao of the Parallax Effect
Cognitive parallax: The mind's distorted view of the world
I’m in the car, landscapes rushing quickly past the window. The trees and poles along the road seem to whiz by at full speed, while the mountains in the background move imperceptibly slowly. Why this stark difference in apparent speed? The answer lies in the parallax effect, that phenomenon by which my brain calculates the speed of objects based on their distance from me. The closer they are, the faster I perceive their relative movement while I’m moving.
The parallax effect
The parallax effect is not just a visual trick, but a powerful metaphor that reveals the fragility of human perception, of how our minds are constantly deceived by illusions and distortions of reality. As the Taoist philosophy pillar, Tao Te Ching states in a paradoxical assertion:
“The ears that have heard too much cannot hear the true sound.”
A warning not to stop at appearances, to dig beneath the surface of things.
“The most solid reality is like rotten wood,”
the Tao Te Ching also states.
Just as the parallax effect deceives us about the real speed of objects, so too does our mind often lead us to have a distorted and illusory vision of the surrounding world. Preconceptions, past experiences, and the limits of our senses prevent us from fully grasping reality as if we were constantly dazed by a sort of “cognitive parallax.” Take my voice for example. When I speak, the true voice that others hear is the sound generated by the air vibrating around my mouth.
Motion Parallax Example — Steven Johnson YouTube Channel
Hidden dimension
Instead, I also perceive the internal vibrations of the facial and cranial bones, a low and resonant sound that others do not have access to. This hidden dimension of the voice reflects the Taoist vision that
“the true sound cannot be heard.”
Does My Voice Really Sound Like That? — SciShow Youtube Channel
In what way do the parallax effect and the experience of my voice reveal the fragility of perception? First, through selective perception: I tend to focus on some aspects of reality, ignoring others and thus constructing a partial and distorted version of the world.
Exactly like the parallax effect makes me focus on the illusion of nearby objects in rapid motion, neglecting those far away and still. Secondly, my preconceptions and prejudices shape the interpretations I give to reality, just as my position in space conditions the perception of the parallax effect. A familiar object could be seen differently from an unfamiliar one. The voice of a loved one may seem more pleasant to me than that of a stranger or someone I don’t like.
Nearby objects
Finally, sensory illusions can easily deceive me, creating non-existent images or sounds or distorting real ones. It’s like when the parallax effect makes me unnaturally perceive the greater speed of nearby objects. Or when my voice, heard in a recording, seems different to me than how I hear it while speaking due to audio distortions. The Tao Te Ching therefore urges me to constantly question my assumptions and beliefs, to not passively accept what I perceive as objective reality.
I must cultivate awareness, paying attention to the mental processes and influences that condition and shape my perceptions. Above all, embrace uncertainty, recognizing that reality is complex and elusive and that my knowledge is always partial and limited. Following these teachings, I can learn to no longer be deceived by the “worms” that corrode the solidity of things, and instead approach the “true sound” of reality, that authentic and profound one that lurks behind fleeting appearances. The solid and stable things around me are nothing but a gigantic illusion.
Worms of impermanence
Everything that seems motionless and concrete is rotting from the inside, corroded by the worms of impermanence. Look at that distant tree. It seems motionless and well-planted on the ground, doesn’t it? Yet if you concentrated better, you would notice that its leaves constantly flutter, and the branches sway imperceptibly.
Nothing in that plant is truly fixed, everything is in perpetual motion and transformation, even if our eyes do not grasp it. The same dynamic applies to the mountains in the background. To us, they appear solid and imposing, but they are slowly crumbling, consumed by wind and weathering. Those majestic peaks will one day cease to exist, erased by the inexorable flow of time. Even the hum of the engine, which now seems like a constant sound to you, is in continuous metamorphosis.
Variations
Listening to it more closely, you will perceive infinite variations in tone and intensity in those sound vibrations. Nothing remains identical to itself, everything changes at every moment. And what about you? Do you perhaps believe you are a solid and immutable presence in this world? Yet every cell in your body is already dying to be replaced by another. Your thoughts, and your emotions, are always different from one moment to the next. Even your self, your innermost essence, is nothing but a precarious and changing mental construct.
I’m telling you all this not to disappoint or discourage you, but to urge you to walk freely. Free from the chains of fallacious certainties, from the prisons of absolute truths. All the “solid reality” you believe in is nothing but an immense minefield of illusions. Abandon your fears and walk with a light step on this treacherous ground! Embrace the impermanence of everything, the continuous flow and change of existence.
And…so?
Only by embracing this apparent chaos can you truly be free and grasp the deepest essence of life, before everything dissolves once again.
Trees in the foreground whizz by, and distant mountains glide at a glacial pace. Parallax deceives again, liquid warping distances and motions. It is all a vortex of fleeting images dissolving. Existence itself is in perpetual flight until the blinding slice of light. Frayed, reality rips apart.
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