"And so it goes with God," exactly means that God is fantasy (as the Tiger in the boat is), and only created because it is preferable to facing the truth.
Incorrect, or at least, incomplete.
If you are familiar with Descartes, you will understand the dualistic nature of perception. There is an external world which you perceive with your senses, sight, smell etc. And there is an internal world of thought, emotion and personal sensation.
You have decided that only the external world is real and that everything within your mind is imaginary. But if you truly open up your thoughts and logic, you can easily see this is not the case.
Everything you THINK you know about the outside world comes via your senses. And your senses are not perfect nor omniscient. They get things wrong. Moreover, everything you see, hear, smell, taste etc. is processed through your internal mind. It is ALL "imaginary".
Think about that word "imaginary". It is based on the concept of "images". You have never experienced the "reality" of a tree. All you have are images of trees processed by your mind. Visual images, touch images, smell images etc. Your understanding of a tree is entirely imaginary. And so it goes with God.
Both God and Richard Parker are useful lies that help people cope with a life that holds pain too difficult to face without the lie.
You miss the deeper, philosophical meaning. You are quick to notice the "lies" others tell themselves. But you are slow and even blind to recognize the "lies" that you tell yourself to reassure yourself about the world.
One of the lies you tell yourself is that there is no God. You have no way of knowing there is no God, but you keep telling yourself anyway. Why? Is it to justify that you don't go to church or pray, as you were taught to do as a child? Guilt avoidance? Is it to prop up a false assumption that science explains everything in the universe (when obviously it doesn't). Other reasons, perhaps?
Whatever it is, it is obviously a very important lie that you tell yourself. Ask yourself why the denial of God is SO important to you that you feel the need to go online and argue about it? You obviously believe very deeply in the absence of God. What benefit does that provide you? Think about it. Seriously. You don't have to tell me the answer but you should be able to answer for yourself if you have any hopes of understanding your own mind and life.
This is the meaning of the film. And, of course, many of the folks arguing here are religious people raised with fables that don't allow them to face reality unfettered. They will never see the fable in religion even though this film nails the lie.
You don't know that. Just because YOU can only see one side of Cartesian dualism doesn't mean other people are not able to see both sides. Both perspectives. Look at the figure below:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Duck-Rabbit_illusion.jpgNow say whether the figure is meant to depict a rabbit or a duck. The very simpleminded pick one or the other. The more perceptive and thoughtful recognize the image is meant to depict both.
Thus is it with God. Is God an imaginary fable? Or is God a reality which can be found within the mind of most people? The answer is: both.
You spent 2 hours watching the Life Of Pi movie which started out prosaic, but gradually became more and more fantastical. You are arguing that the fantastical things weren't "real". But would you have watched the movie if the "reality" was depicted. Would you have sat through hours of watching a starving kid in a boat, mostly doing nothing?
No you would not. Why? Obviously you prefer fantasy to reality in this case. Or maybe, just maybe, there is more "reality" to be found within the mind than you are willing to admit. There is nothing more "real" than survival. And in this movie, it was "fantasy" that kept Pi alive, not "reality".
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