Matter, Memory, and the Paradox of Perception: Henri Bergson on How to See Reality

The Marginalian revisits Henri Bergson's eighteen ninety-six work 'Matter and Memory,' which argues that perception is always intermingled with memory. Bergson suggests we don't simply photograph reality; we reconstruct it from past experience, and that blending can lead to illusions. He challenges both empiricism and dogmatism, urging a more integrated way of seeing. The essay notes that a century later, cognitive science confirmed how powerfully expectation shapes experience.

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