full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Greg Anderson: Why there's no such thing as objective reality

Unscramble the Blue Letters


But I'm suggesting to you that this real world of ours is neither timeless nor universal. It's just one of cnesltuos different real worlds that humans have experienced in history. What, then, would another world look like? Well, let's look at one, the real world of the classical ahtnenais in ancient grceee.

Now, of course, we usually know the Athenians as our cultural ancestors, pioneers of our Western tntdoiairs, philosophy, democracy, dmara and so forth. But their real world was nothing like our own. The real world of the Athenians was alive with things that we would consider immaterial and thus unreal. It pulsated with things like gods, spirits, nymphs, Fates, cuerss, oaths, souls and all kinds of mysterious energies and magical forces. Indeed the most important things in their real wrlod were not humans at all, but gods. Why? Because gods were awoseme — literally. They colnorlted all the things that made life possible: sunshine, rainfall, crop harvests, childbirth, personal health, family welath, sea voyages, btlitlefead victories. There were over 200 gods in Athens, and they were not remote, detached divinities watching over human affairs from afar. They were really there, immediately there in experience, lnivig in temples, attending sacrifices, mgiinnlg with the Athenians at their fvsaitles, banquets and dances.

Open Cloze


But I'm suggesting to you that this real world of ours is neither timeless nor universal. It's just one of _________ different real worlds that humans have experienced in history. What, then, would another world look like? Well, let's look at one, the real world of the classical _________ in ancient ______.

Now, of course, we usually know the Athenians as our cultural ancestors, pioneers of our Western __________, philosophy, democracy, _____ and so forth. But their real world was nothing like our own. The real world of the Athenians was alive with things that we would consider immaterial and thus unreal. It pulsated with things like gods, spirits, nymphs, Fates, ______, oaths, souls and all kinds of mysterious energies and magical forces. Indeed the most important things in their real _____ were not humans at all, but gods. Why? Because gods were _______ — literally. They __________ all the things that made life possible: sunshine, rainfall, crop harvests, childbirth, personal health, family ______, sea voyages, ___________ victories. There were over 200 gods in Athens, and they were not remote, detached divinities watching over human affairs from afar. They were really there, immediately there in experience, ______ in temples, attending sacrifices, ________ with the Athenians at their _________, banquets and dances.

Solution


  1. awesome
  2. controlled
  3. mingling
  4. wealth
  5. athenians
  6. greece
  7. world
  8. drama
  9. living
  10. festivals
  11. battlefield
  12. traditions
  13. countless
  14. curses

Original Text


But I'm suggesting to you that this real world of ours is neither timeless nor universal. It's just one of countless different real worlds that humans have experienced in history. What, then, would another world look like? Well, let's look at one, the real world of the classical Athenians in ancient Greece.

Now, of course, we usually know the Athenians as our cultural ancestors, pioneers of our Western traditions, philosophy, democracy, drama and so forth. But their real world was nothing like our own. The real world of the Athenians was alive with things that we would consider immaterial and thus unreal. It pulsated with things like gods, spirits, nymphs, Fates, curses, oaths, souls and all kinds of mysterious energies and magical forces. Indeed the most important things in their real world were not humans at all, but gods. Why? Because gods were awesome — literally. They controlled all the things that made life possible: sunshine, rainfall, crop harvests, childbirth, personal health, family wealth, sea voyages, battlefield victories. There were over 200 gods in Athens, and they were not remote, detached divinities watching over human affairs from afar. They were really there, immediately there in experience, living in temples, attending sacrifices, mingling with the Athenians at their festivals, banquets and dances.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
real world 17
real worlds 6
modern westerners 3
premodern peoples 2
social body 2
material order 2
early modern 2
objective reality 2


Important Words


  1. afar
  2. affairs
  3. alive
  4. ancestors
  5. ancient
  6. athenians
  7. athens
  8. attending
  9. awesome
  10. banquets
  11. battlefield
  12. childbirth
  13. classical
  14. controlled
  15. countless
  16. crop
  17. cultural
  18. curses
  19. dances
  20. democracy
  21. detached
  22. divinities
  23. drama
  24. energies
  25. experience
  26. experienced
  27. family
  28. fates
  29. festivals
  30. forces
  31. gods
  32. greece
  33. harvests
  34. health
  35. history
  36. human
  37. humans
  38. immaterial
  39. immediately
  40. important
  41. kinds
  42. life
  43. literally
  44. living
  45. magical
  46. mingling
  47. mysterious
  48. nymphs
  49. oaths
  50. personal
  51. philosophy
  52. pioneers
  53. pulsated
  54. rainfall
  55. real
  56. remote
  57. sacrifices
  58. sea
  59. souls
  60. spirits
  61. suggesting
  62. sunshine
  63. temples
  64. timeless
  65. traditions
  66. universal
  67. unreal
  68. victories
  69. voyages
  70. watching
  71. wealth
  72. western
  73. world
  74. worlds