Page 28 - Eternity Has Already Begun

ETERNITY HAS ALREADY BEGUN

Nevertheless, the brain perceives sounds most precisely, so that
a healthy person's ear hears everything without any atmospheric
noise or interference. Your brain is insulated from sound, yet you
listen to the symphonies of an orchestra, hear all the noises in a
crowded auditorium, and perceive all sounds within a wide fre-
quency, from the rustling of leaves to the roar of a jet plane. How-
ever, were a sensitive device to measure the sound level in your
brain, it would show complete silence prevailing there.
Our perception of odor forms in a similar way. Volatile mole-
cules, emitted by vanilla extract or a rose, reach receptors in the del-
icate hairs in the olfactory epithelium and become involved in an in-
teraction that is transmitted to the brain as electrical signals and per-
ceived as smell. Everything that you smell, be it pleasant or repug-
nant, is only your brain's perception of the interactions of volatile
molecules transformed into electrical signals. The scent of a per-
fume, a flower, any delicious food, the sea, or other odors you like
or dislike, you perceive entirely in your brain. The molecules them-
selves never reach there. Just as with sound and vision, what reach-
es your sensory centers is simply an assortment of electrical signals.
In other words, all the sensations that, since you were born, you've
assumed to belong to external ob-
jects are just electrical signals in-
terpreted through your sense or-
gans. You can never have direct
experience of the true nature of a
scent in the outside world.
Similarly, at the front of your
tongue, there are four different
types of chemical receptors that
enables you to perceive the tastes The scent of a perfume, a flower, any
delicious food, the sea, or other
of salty, sweet, sour, and bitter.
odors we like or dislike, we perceive
After a series of chemical process- entirely in our brain.

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