Views of Reality: An Introduction

The beautiful thing about humans is that they manage to have an opinion on anything and everything - especially everything. Where reality, existence, time, and the universe in general are concerned, everybody has a favorite theory. The universe was created by a sentient being with a purpose. The universe created by sort of a cosmic wet dream which set in motion the physics by which our universe abides. Reality is deterministic in nature; causes proceed from events in a chain all the way back to the "unmoved mover." Reality is non-deterministic, events do not necessarily proceed from initial conditions, and maybe human beings even have some say in the matter. Time is linear. Time is circular. Time is phony. Some people think they're the only real thing, that their minds or perceptions encompass all of reality; some people think there's no such thing as reality at all.

Probably no one believes in just one scenario exclusively, although certain fanatical personages do cling to a strict party line when entering into public discourse. Most likely, everyone has ideas and tendencies belonging to different schools of thought, even if they don't like to admit it in polite company, or to themselves.

It would be difficult for, say, Fred Phelps to own up to even a shred of doubt about the existence of a God; doing so would nullify his life's mission (mostly holding up rude signs at inappropriate times, saying real crazy words like "fag-enablers," and generally ruining a good thing) and disenchant his always-enchanting flock of Baptist go-getters.

Or what about for Richard Dawkins to admit that sometimes (probably under the influence of a shit-ton of psychedelic drugs) he feels the hand of God turning the wheel of being and can no longer justify his belief in evolution as a blind process. Nevermind the implications it would have on his psyche; what would happen to his book sales?

The point is that nobody knows for sure, even if they say they do; if other humans are anything like me, their thoughts and feelings about reality are deeply ambivalent and more than a little muddy. And while certain explanations have some very attractive selling points (logical coherence, theoretical elegance, mathematical proofs, scientific research, charisma, good old-fashioned common sense, simplicity, practicality, likelihood of adherents to lead happy and well-adjusted lives), you can't actually prove for sure that the universe is this, that, or a brain in a jar.

So, while some may make more sense, and others may feel more intuitive, one theory is basically as good (as proveable) as the next and you can take your pick depending on which flavor you like. You can even change your mind about it whenever you want, which is really neat.

One thing is for sure in my mind, though. Some theories of reality are just a heck of a lot more fun than others. Right now I like quantum stuff and anything with spheres or demons involved. Oh, also evolution, fractal geometry, and anything math-y or recursive. What do you guys like? Let's talk about it.

Next ish: Views of Reality: Quantum (Kitties, Quarters, and The Impossibility of Knowledge), plus fun clickable links on this entry. Trust me, the links are MONEY.

The organism craves sleep. See you on the other side of it.