Your ‘way of seeing’ is your ‘reality tunnel’...

Milne & ‘Ways of Seeing’

[Robert Anton Wilson & Our Reality Tunnels]

A.A. Milne, [born January 18, 1882] English humourist, is best known as the originator of the immensely popular stories about Christopher Robin and his toy bear, Winnie-the-Pooh!

From a theoretical standpoint, the books that Milne wrote for his son, underscore the importance of ‘perspectives’ and ‘ways of seeing!’

Coincidentally, today also happens to be the birthday of Robert Anton Wilson, American author of several science fiction novels, and a futurist, whose take on ‘perspectives’ and ‘ways of seeing’ are highly liberative in their appeal!

Your ‘way of seeing’ is your ‘reality tunnel’ says Robert Anton Wilson.

When someone has a differing viewpoint that’s contrary to yours, it just means that,

“They just have a different reality tunnel, and every ‘reality tunnel’ might tell us something interesting about our world, if we are willing to listen.”

Quoting his favourite German philosopher Husserl, who says, “All perception is gamble,” Robert Anton Wilson continues –

“Every type of bigotry, every type of racism, sexism, prejudice, every dogmatic ideology that allows people to kill other people with a clear conscience, every stupid cult, every superstition, written religion, every kind of ignorance in the world all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles”.

“We believe what we see and then we believe our interpretation of it, we don’t even know we are making an interpretation most of the time. We think that this is reality. In philosophy that is called naïve realism”.

“What I perceive is reality.”

“And philosophers have refuted naïve realism every century for the last twenty-five hundred years starting with Buddha & Plato, and yet most people still act on the basis of naive realism”.

Never believe fully in anybody else's Belief System, he adds, and says -

I don't care if it's Roger Neich, the Pope, L. Ron Hubard, Al Gore, George Bush.

I don't care who it is, don't swallow all their belief system totally, don't accept all of their BS (belief system).

The second rule is like unto the first, don't believe totally in your own BS (Belief System as he says), 

which means any belief system or reality tunnel you have got right now is gonna have to be revised and updated as you continue to apprehend new events later in time not simultaneously.

This is the natural functioning of the human brain, it's the way children brains perform before they are wrecked by the school system. It's the way the minds of all great scientists and artists work.

But once you have a belief system everything that comes in either gets ignored if it doesn't fit the belief system or get distorted enough so that it can fit into the belief system. You gotta be continually revising your map of the world.

In like fashion, coming back to Milne and his world,

What to the adult is a ‘mere shelf full of stuffed animal toys’, to the little child it becomes a beautiful world by itself – they aren’t toys at all – rather fully developed, distinct personalities – in flesh and blood in front of his little eyes!

Milne has been called a connoisseur in the art of observing children’s behaviour, their mannerisms, their whims and fancies, and catering to their sensibilities with gusto!

His wit is amazing! His dialogues so endearing! And his way with words so appealing!

Interestingly, it was J. M. Barrie, [best known for his children’s book Peter Pan], a good friend of Milne, who helped in the production of Milne’s first play.

Now here goes Milne and his world – with a few beautiful excerpts for us – from the Introduction and Chapter 1 – to appreciate and celebrate the wit and the wonder of Milne and his world!

INTRODUCTION

If you happen to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don't know which) and that he used to call this swan Pooh.

That was a long time ago, and when we said good-bye, we took the name with us, as we didn't think the swan would want it any more.

Well, when Edward Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he was.

So, as I have explained the Pooh part, I will now explain the rest of it. You can't be in London for long without going to the Zoo.

There are some people who begin the Zoo at the beginning, called WAYIN, and walk as quickly as they can past every cage until they get to the one called WAYOUT, but the nicest people go straight to the animal they love the most, and stay there.

So when Christopher Robin goes to the Zoo, he goes to where the Polar Bears are, and he whispers something to the third keeper from the left, and doors are unlocked, and we wander through dark passages and up steep stairs, until at last we come to the special cage, and the cage is opened, and out trots something brown and furry, and with a happy cry of “Oh, Bear!”

Christopher Robin rushes into its arms.

Now this bear's name is Winnie, which shows what a good name for bears it is, but the funny thing is that we can't remember whether Winnie is called after Pooh, or Pooh after Winnie.

We did know once, but we have forgotten... I had written as far as this when Piglet looked up and said in his squeaky voice, “What about Me?” “My dear Piglet,” I said, “the whole book is about you.”

“So it is about Pooh,” he squeaked. You see what it is. He is jealous because he thinks Pooh is having a Grand Introduction all to himself.

Pooh is the favourite, of course, there's no denying it, but Piglet comes in for a good many things which Pooh misses; because you can't take Pooh to school without everybody knowing it, but Piglet is so small that he slips into a pocket, where it is very comforting to feel him when you are not quite sure whether twice seven is twelve or twenty-two.

Sometimes he slips out and has a good look in the ink-pot, and in this way he has got more education than Pooh, but Pooh doesn't mind.

Some have brains, and some haven't, he says, and there it is.

And now all the others are saying, “What about Us?”

So perhaps the best thing to do is to stop writing Introductions and get on with the book.

A. A. M.

Chapter 1

IN WHICH WE ARE INTRODUCED TO WINNIE-THE-POOH AND SOME BEES, AND THE STORIES BEGIN

HERE is Edward Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind Christopher Robin.

It is, as far as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and think of it.

And then he feels that perhaps there isn't.

Anyhow, here he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you.

Winnie-the-Pooh.

When I first heard his name, I said, just as you are going to say, “But I thought he was a boy?”

“So did I,” said Christopher Robin.

“Then you can't call him Winnie?”

“I don't.”

“But you said-”

“He's Winnie-ther-Pooh. Don't you know what 'ther' means?”

“Ah, yes, now I do,” I said quickly; and I hope you do too, because it is all the explanation you are going to get.

Sometimes Winnie-the-Pooh likes a game of some sort when he comes downstairs, and sometimes he likes to sit quietly in front of the fire and listen to a story.

This evening - “What about a story?” said Christopher Robin.

“What about a story?” I said.

“Could you very sweetly tell Winnie-the-Pooh one?”

“I suppose I could,” I said. “What sort of stories does he like?”

“About himself. Because he’s that sort of Bear”.

“Oh, I see.”

“So could you very sweetly?”

“I’ll try,” I said.

So I tried.

Once upon a time, a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest all by himself under the name of Sanders.

(“What does ‘under the name’ mean?” asked Christopher Robin. “It means he had the name over the door in gold letters, and lived under it.”

“Winnie-the-Pooh wasn't quite sure,” said Christopher Robin.

“Now I am,” said a growly voice.

“Then I will go on,” said I.)

One day when he was out walking, he came to an open place in the middle of the forest, and in the middle of this place was a large oak-tree, and, from the top of the tree, there came a loud buzzing-noise.

Winnie-the-Pooh sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws and began to think.

First of all he said to himself:

“That buzzing-noise means something. You don't get a buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and buzzing, without its meaning something. If there’s a buzzing-noise, somebody’s making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I know of is because you're a bee”.

Well, that was just a foretaste to the world of Winnie-the-Pooh!

Do grab for yourself a copy rightaway to relish and to enjoy the delightful world of Winnie-the-Pooh!

On an added snippet - Winnie is on Disney+ Hotstar as well!

image courtesy: disney & recoverynetdotca