What is reality?

[silent thunder]

I frequently wonder what are our flat earth certanties... we have them and one day, folks in the not too distant not now will look back at our assumptions and giggle at our naivete. I mean it's so obvious to my eyes that I stand still while the Apollo flies slowly across the sky.

[NotVoid]

Silent Thunder, yes, I think it is human nature to assume that our assumptions and perceptions and interpretations about the world and universe around us are mostly pretty accurate and reliable, as after all our minds are constantly being fed back with information through our senses which continually 'confirms' those assumptions and perceptions and interpretations. The problem as I see it is it appears that the information that is constantly feeding into our minds through our senses is very much unconsciously filtered and massaged by our belief systems and associated belief protection mechanisms, etc. I would suggest that this may possibly be occurring at a much higher degree than any of us might realize and be able to easily accept. Are we all looking at the world around us as it really is, or as we collectively perceive it to be? The modern world views of today are no doubt quite different in various ways than they were one and more centuries ago, and I think there is no reason to assume that changes in world views and subsequent 'understandings' will not continue to evolve over the coming decades and centuries as well.

Edited August 14, 2016 by NotVoid

[Karl]

Hi Karl. I have not suggested anything in my comments here about consciousness altering 'reality'. I have suggested that whatever 'reality' may be, it seems beliefs can have a strong influence on how we perceive it. I have observed that this typically seems to happen at an unconscious level, but I think we can raise our awareness of how this process works and become more conscious of those mental constructs and processes which strongly influence our perception.

 

Regarding consciousness having a part in possibly creating or influencing/altering 'reality', although I have not suggested anything about this, it seems to me that for all anyone knows for certain there could at least possibly be something to such a concept. I think It would be an unsupportable belief for someone to suggest that such a thing is definitely impossible, just as it is an unsupportable belief for someone to suggest that 'reality' definitely only consists of what we can currently observe and measure and interpret with our physical senses and current physical instruments and current scientific world view, and that our current scientific views of 'reality' are completely accurate and complete. I think current trends in modern physics give indications that whatever reality is, it seems it may well possibly be a fair bit stranger than such a simplistic Newtonian-like view of the world and universe. In other words, It would be very much a matter of faith for someone to suggest that consciousness definitely does not interact with 'reality' in some way or another. This would be a good example of how unconscious beliefs can be mistaken for demonstrable fact. I sincerely doubt that anyone could convincingly prove such an assertion in any reasonable way, no matter how much they may *believe* such to be true. 

 

 

 

 

 

You continue to talk about 'reality' as if it is something that is already fully understood in all aspects. I just don't think that is the case. In actuality I think modern physics is showing that the 'deeper' scientists look into such things, the more puzzling it seems to become. From what I understand, modern day physicists are throwing theories around which include concepts such as multiple dimensions and multiple parallel universes, etc. It sure doesn't seem to me like things are at all so straight forward and clear cut. It sounds like possibly despite all we currently know about the world and universe, that we may possibly have a long way to go yet, and some current accepted theories could possibly even be altered yet in the future for all anyone really knows for certain.

 

I won't harp on such things any much further, as I know the pointlessness of doing so. If someone has very strong and fixed beliefs about what 'reality' is, no amount of discussion is likely going to change that, even when it can be pointed out that at least some very qualified modern day physicists them self have been and are considering very strange and abstruse ideas as serious possibilities about 'reality', ideas which may stress and stretch the very limits of our conceptual minds.

 

I personally still maintain the possibility that whatever 'reality' might be, it may possibly be much more different and mysterious at its essence than anything we currently may conceive and assume. That is the essence of what I have been suggesting here. I realize that such a notion may well conflict with some or even many people's beliefs about such things, but that is how I personally currently see things anyway.

I recap: existence is identity; consciousness is identification.

 

Direct perception of reality is the only way we can prove our conceptions. Science is the invention of philosophy, the method by which we can best check our conceptions against reality and the ONLY way we can do that is to use our senses, our perception of reality.

 

What can be said of scientists who deny that they can perceive reality ? They can have no proof. They are lost. They gave up the one thing which they depend on in order to perform their work.

 

Where am I ? How do I know it ? What should I do ?

 

We have let scientists become philosophers, economists and ethicists. The result has been catastrophic. They have become high priests by default and have reversed the role of philosophy and the science that is inspired by it. Instead of science we have scientism, instead of economics economism, instead of ethics ethisism. We have restored the Mystics. Haven't you noticed ?

[silent thunder]

Reality Tunnels as described by RAW have always resonated with me as a model for how our sub-conscious foundation of biases built by social and familial programming affect the tone of our perception of life, set the tone for what we consider normal and strange, good and evil.  

 

How the tunnel vision of our perception will naturally filter out that which causes cognitive dissonance and highlights that which reinforces already held belief structure.

 

Robert Anton Wilson: Reality Tunnels