<p>What does this phrase mean to you? </p>
<p>I've been lucubrating over this phrase for the past week. I've been trying to write something about it, but I only have fragments - scribbles in my diary and disjointed thoughts in my mind. But never mind about me. What does it mean to you, and can you relate it to your personal life?</p>
<p>A translation first, perhaps?</p>
<p>To be is to be perceived, I think.</p>
<p>To exist is to be perceived</p>
<p>quidquid latine sit dictum altum videtur. </p>
<p>that is all.</p>
<p>I know right ^ if I could speak people would be like “oh you’re fancy, huh?”</p>
<p>Well this is the first thing that popped into my mind.</p>
<p>Take the example of sound; what is sound?</p>
<p>Sound is the perception of vibrations in the air. So this goes back to the age-old question. If a tree falls in the middle of nowhere (and there is not a single living thing around–not EVEN one), is there still sound?</p>
<p>Since there is no perception, technically the sound doesn’t exist. The vibrations in the air are there, sure. But that’s all it is–vibrations. It isn’t sound until it has been perceived.</p>
<p>At least, that’s what I think…I might just be making stuff up :P</p>
<p>To me, whenever I think of the Latin phrase esse est percipi, I think of the numerous people I pass everyday in the hallways. To exist is to be perceived. A red scarf. Khaki shorts. A green t-shirt. Laughter. Chatter. Blurs of color, bony elbows, cologne, freshly washed clothing. I perceive, and yet I do not perceive. They exist, yet they do not exist. These people exist only ephemerally to me, because the perception is fleeting - transient. These people exist for however long my perception of them lasts. What’s that I just saw? Oh, it’s a purple scarf! I turn, and I see the wearer’s face. For that instant, the person exists. The person continues to exist as I walk up the stairs and to my classroom. As I enter the class, I am hit by a volley of chatter. These perceptions take precedence, and I quickly forget my previous perceptions. The person with the purple scarf slips from my memory. To exist is to be perceived.</p>
<p>We pass again in the hallway tomorrow. We are complete strangers; the act of perceiving starts anew - if it starts at all. Say the person ditches the scarf. Nothing catches my eye. We pass, complete strangers, unaware of our mutual existences. We might physically exist, but we do not exist to one another.</p>
<p>^beautiful :’) </p>
<p>Sent from my SGH-T959V using CC</p>
<p>As always…</p>
<p>^You guys are the best audience ever (,:</p>