֍ 47 ֍ White Room Purple • A Thought Experiment

Abstraction

A group of people walks into a room. They’re asked, “What’s the color of the walls?” They all agree that the room is white. The lights are then turned off, and the white group is asked to close their eyes. In the meantime, the room is painted purple. A new group of people are asked to enter the room, and the lights are turned back on. With the white group having their eyes closed, the second group is asked the room’s color. The second group declares that the room is purple. The white group protests that the room is white as they open their eyes, but they see that the walls are now purple. An argument ensues. The second group says that the room is purple. The white group argues that the room used to be white. The purple group knows nothing of a white room.

Discussion

This thought experiment is the basis of a workshop to explore the perception of reality of its participants. The classroom is asked the following questions, one at a time, without revealing the next question.

• Initial thoughts?
• What does the room represent?
• Who do the people represent?
• What does the paint on the walls represent?
• Who do the painters represent?
• How would you approach this thought experiment, thinking outside your cognitive biases?

Dissemination

The following section is my assessment of the White Room Purple Thought Experiment:

Initial thoughts? • Questions come to mind, such as: “What is the purpose of this experiment? Is white or purple relevant?” As a teacher, I’m intrigued by the response of the audience. I want to explore their social, economic, and cultural backgrounds as they play out in understanding this scenario. It’s important to have the audience delve into abstract thought.

What does the room represent? • The room symbolizes many abstractions of society. It is a manifestation of culture and politics – life and death – what is an illusion versus what is real. The room is a representation of how humans perceive the world within the limited capacity of their brains. It’s also a prison used to isolate, control, and manipulate. It’s a metaphor for rats in a cage, even when they’re oblivious to their incarceration.

Who do the people represent? • Each group represents the polarization of society: Us versus Them, Good vs. Evil, Believers vs. Non-believers, Order vs. Anarchy, etc. Society prefers a border that separates them from their enemies. Like borders of a country, fences of a property, or virtual walls that separate conflicting ideologies. Everyone has the illusion that they’re the good ones. “Those people on the other side of the fence are bad.” But in this room, there are no physical borders. Both groups are intertwined in a yin yang.

What does the wall paint represent? • The paint is a manifestation of reality. It’s a representation of control. This could be in the form of government propaganda, pathological brainwashing, or the indoctrination of an idea. The paint is a manifestation of ideology built on generational doctrine. Or maybe it’s simply the manipulation of a scam designed to obfuscate its true nature. The question is, therefore, “Is white room the truth, and purple a façade? Is the paint a means to distort reality? Are the colors a means to control society?” Even when the purple group is told the room was originally white, they won’t necessarily believe it. There’s no evidence. The longer the room is purple, the longer it’s solidified as the new truth.

Who do the painters represent? • The painters know the truth of the room. Or do they? They’ve architected the room’s reality, but are they the true architects? They applied the purple façade and, therefore, know what’s behind it. But did the painters also paint the white room?

Thinking outside the box • Everyone thinks they own the truth. But what if everything’s a lie? What if society is manipulated across so many iterations that the truth is no longer attainable? Who built the room? Are there other rooms? Logically, only the architects of the room itself would know the truth. Do the people in the room worship these architects as gods? Is the room a fantasy built on top of a simulation?

Maybe the questions to ask are, “Does any of this matter? Is it wrong not to know the truth? Is it wrong to live in a fog of blissful ignorance if it means peace and tranquility when the truth brings misery? Who has the right to judge whether truth equates to a utopia?”

Tags

White Room Purple, thought experiment, abstraction, perception of reality, cognitive biases, reality manipulation, social polarization, ideological control, propaganda, perception of truth, perception of reality in society, philosophical thought experiment, metaphor for society, questioning reality, blissful ignorance, the truth vs illusion, societal manipulation, cultural indoctrination, truth and utopia, architects of reality

#Hashtags

#WhiteRoomPurple #ThoughtExperiment #Abstraction #PerceptionOfReality #CognitiveBiases #SocialPolarization #IdeologicalControl #Propaganda #RealityManipulation #PerceptionOfTruth #PhilosophicalExperiment #MetaphorForSociety #QuestioningReality #BlissfulIgnorance #TruthVsIllusion #SocietalManipulation #CulturalIndoctrination #TruthAndUtopia #ArchitectsOfReality #RealityQuestioning

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