When I was a teenager, home computers were just starting to emerge. The father of a school friend who lived nearby had purchased an early Apple computer with the game Wizardry installed. I recall hours of complete immersion in the game, exploring the tunnels, slowly building the various skills of my team, developing new spells and engaging in conflicts with tricky creatures discovered in the tunnels.
I was hooked, more so than I have been on any subsequent computer game, yet the game was extremely rudimentary by today’s standards. No fancy graphics, a screen mostly full of text with just a few lines indicating a 3-D perspective, cautiously moving one step at a time, excited as to when the next foes would be encountered. There was no actual view of the combat, just a screen that allowed inputs as to which skills to use in combat and to see the results. A floppy disk was used to store the game’s state.
Complete immersion. I did not need more from the computer. The mind filled in the rest.
These days of course, the technology has improved dramatically. Full 3-D simulation, immersive goggles, surround sound, etc. The kids are still hooked and many adults too. As our technology develops further, one can envisage more and more lifelike virtual reality simulations, feeding other senses more realistically (smell, touch). It is not incomprehensible that it may become hard to distinguish between a realistic simulation of the world and the world itself in the not too distant future.
A few of the new immersive games automatically generate virtual universes so vast that you can become a new type of explorer, the first human eyes (and perhaps also the last!) to see certain parts of the computer creations. The programmers put the virtual building blocks in place, set up the virtual rules of physics etc. and powerful computers generate the rest. Along with exploring you can record what you find and share with other gamers. A virtual explorer you can be; a modern day Christopher Columbus, or Vasco da Gama or David Livingstone, all from the comfort of your armchair.
There is a real concern that children today spend too much time indoors within virtual worlds rather than playing outside with friends using more rudimentary props coupled with perhaps a healthier sense of imagination. The quality of the experience between computer game playing and outdoor play is quite different yet both do involve some level of imagination. Playing outside, building a tree house, one remains still connected to the wider world. In your computer game, it is just you and the friends that may be part of the game at separate terminals, each player taking on an imaginary character. In such play, one can become disconnected from the normal reality of the world and we have an uneasy feeling that too much time in virtually constructed worlds is not completely healthy. We are less connected to “reality” there. If the children of this generation are too absorbed in virtual worlds or social media rather than being out in nature which we inherently feel is healthier and more real, what kind of generation will follow them?
Interestingly, a good book will also elicit a world of the imagination, and we have less objection to that. Once again, a different quality of experience and different way in which the mind is used. There is much still to be explored in healthy use of the mind, our most powerful tool.
As we seem determined to create more sophisticated virtual worlds, it might be good to take a step back and look more deeply what is real and what is not, what may be more useful and what less useful. Perhaps this will shed some light on the world and also on ourselves.
At this time, most people don’t have too much trouble distinguishing between computer generated worlds and what we call the “real world” which is usually regarded as some sort of objective shared world in which we all live. In addition, it is widely regarded as very important for humans better to understand the “real world”. We derive deep meaning, satisfaction and delight in teasing out the fine laws of nature and putting them to good use (including to create better tools for constructing better virtual worlds!). Our discovery space is not limited to the senses, but includes the complex relationships between humans and interplay of mind, heart and intent. In a sense, all humans are explorers.
Science includes studies of such subjects as astronomy, physics, chemistry and biology (and much else besides). The scientific method is designed to probe the characteristics of the “real world” in an objective manner and tease out these fine laws. Often we express the fine laws as mathematical statements leading some to suggest that mathematics is the ultimate reality, but not all the fine laws governing how the universe works are mathematical in nature. As an example, laws of cause and effect appear to operate in all realms, even in the emotional realm. Emotional bullying leads to emotional scarring, for example.
Scientists, too, make use of computers and sophisticated simulations in their work; an astrophysicist might develop complex simulations of the evolving universe as an aid to understanding since solving all the equations analytically for large systems is simply not possible in many cases. However, as we have mentioned, scientists are primarily concerned with understanding the “real world”. If a serious scientists were to announce that they would be devoting their life to exploration and study of one of the new computer generated virtual worlds used in gaming for example, we would question the value of that in advancing human knowledge and look at them a little strangely! We innately recognise that virtual worlds are largely for entertainment value, somehow artificial and not so worthy of our serious consideration. The recent work on visualising the hidden layers of deep neural nets in the field of machine learning is primarily aimed at better understanding the complex working of these useful algorithms in order to improve them rather than an idea that they might themselves be some kind of deeper reality requiring investigation.
It is a similar situation with other types of worlds of our imagination e.g. day-dream or dreaming sleep. Although some may study these in order to uncover symbolism or the workings of what we think of as the “subconscious”, most would not give much value to their contents or ascribe “reality” to them. They are often regarded as “just dreams” and largely subjective in nature. Sometimes, however, people experience more vivid dreams in which meaning for the individual may be more powerfully conveyed. In such cases, it is often not the particular arrangement of objects in the dream which is important, but the meaning itself shown through the arrangement. In fact, in normal waking life, patterns of meaning often show themselves to us using apparent coincidences of events or people. Once again, it not so important as to the particular arrangements of objects, but what they are showing us. All of this raises intriguing questions about reality, meaning and deeper purpose.
Interestingly, if one’s dreams carried on each night where they had left off, it would be very hard to distinguish between the dreaming state and the waking state, between the “real world” and imagination. Luckily for us they don’t, else we may have to change our views of what is real! We consider people that have this kind of trouble of distinguishing between the real and imagined as suffering from a kind of mental disorder.
Technology developments are starting to add yet more layers to the world. As we connect more of our computing and sensing machinery to the body, we will be viewing the world through enhanced or filtered views, a combination of human and machine, all of which will further challenge our ideas of what is real or what is not. However, this not really new. The same could be said for putting on a pair of sunglasses. Is the view with the glasses off closer to reality than the view with the glasses on?
All of this raises the question, what it is that makes the “real world” real?
In one view, what you experience is reality, for you. Certainly the act of experiencing is real, but the reality of the contents of what is experienced can legitimately be questioned. Is what I see the reality? For example, some people may suffer from severe delusions and it is well known that all of us look at the world through some subjective filtering, a milder form of delusion (if we acknowledged this more widely, a lot of conflict could be avoided). Even our moods affect how we see the world. However, is there a shared “objective reality”, the one that the scientists are attempting to explore? This is quite a deep question given that, for you, everything is ultimately filtered through your subjective experience, even the group of scientists coming along to you and telling you that they have all agreed that the world looks and behaves in a particular way!
In addition, assuming that subjective filters were not a problem, even the notion of “objective reality” breaks down for some parts of quantum physics where it is not possible to completely separate out the observer from the experiment. However, for practical purposes, most “normal people” would agree that there is some kind of “objective reality” to the universe and that its laws are common to all.
A little confused by now about the nature of the “real world” and when this writer is actually going to tie it down? Don’t worry, this is normal 🙂 Your concerns are valid. Please continue.
This commonly agreed “objective reality” is a little hard to tie down, but has certain characteristics: it is shared (although we all put our layers on top of it and view it from particular points of view); it seems to be coherent in some sense (controlled by long lasting fine laws even if we don’t know what they all are); we play a small part in it but don’t control it fully (e.g. the universe!); it is fully immersive in that we may experience it fully with heart, mind and all the senses (taking a walk in nature is a richer, more grounded experience than a game simulation using visual and sound simulation); it is all encompassing (nothing is excluded, even game playing in one’s house is permitted as part of a bigger picture). Assuming there was no knowledge of a bigger picture (there was no knowledge of something outside of the simulation), a very well constructed virtual world would have the same characteristics as this “real world”. A vivid and coherent dream in which the dreamer does not know that they are dreaming can seem very real to us. Some have taken this thought further. How do we know our “real world” is not some kind of sophisticated simulation (Matrix-like) created by something very advanced or a dream in itself? If so, what is outside of that? Who is the dreamer?
Interestingly, in some of the deeper mystical / spiritual traditions, the world is indeed regarded as being a magnificent and transient show – a grand illusion; maya; with reality lying behind this. Having travelled far down this road, wise men and women from any traditions over the centuries point us inwards towards this deeper reality, behind the world of appearances. This understanding has appeared independently so many times that it would seem worthy of serious consideration. So, is this world and its objects which we normally think of as “real” the ultimate or is it possible to get a sense of an underlying reality behind the world of appearances?
As we have seen, it is actually hard to really get to grips with whether the world is “real” or not and what this might mean. Surprisingly, however, the question of whether there is an ultimate reality at all is easier to approach.
Hopefully things start to get easier from this point 🙂 Hopefully…
Once you strip away all the levels of perception, what lies at the base of the pyramid, underlying it all? No matter how much illusion and appearance, reason tells us that there has to be something real behind it, else there would be nothing at all. There would be no experience, no universe, no witnessing of it. One thing is certain, there seems to be something happening here as there is an experience of it, even if we don’t know for sure what it is! There is not complete nothingness. For example, no matter how possibly nonsensical and confusing all these words are, the very fact of words appearing here with some level of comprehension by you, the reader, means that there is an ultimate reality underlying the universe. This moment is proof of that. One cannot have appearance in nothing. Even a dream appears to something.
As we have seen, if you consider it carefully, there is very little about the “real world” about which you can be absolutely certain. One thing, however, is without doubt; it is that you exist. Quite what “you” exist as and quite what the appearance of the world actually is, is more doubtful and may require careful investigation, but you certainly do exist. Whew!
In fact, deeper consideration will lead you to the inescapable conclusion that it is you that provides the stamp of reality to the universe! This can be a surprising realization. If you consider it, the most real thing about the universe is this moment “here” and “now” i.e. the present moment. What is past is a dimming memory and what is future is still a thought which may or may not happen, yet this moment is real. What is more, it is you that defines “here” and “now” i.e. the present moment and you are deeply linked. “Here” is where you are and “now” is when you are. You are always here and now. You are always in the present moment since you define the present moment. Quite what you are is less certain, but whatever it is is pretty amazing since it is providing the stamp of reality to the whole universe! Perhaps consider that quietly for a moment….
Even if someone “else” comes to you to tell you what everyone else has agreed about the universe, you first give that person the stamp of reality before you receive their message. So you lend reality to the whole universe. This can be a bit mind boggling when first encountered and is not the common view of things.
The universe is indeed a rich place to explore and experience, to tease out the fine laws and put them to good use (I work on a global science project to build the most sensitive radio telescope arrays ever for astronomy), but “reality” will always remain a step beyond any ideas we may have about the universe. If we are interested in reality, we need to penetrate all these layers of thought and conditioning and see what is underneath them. Despite all the good work of science, some are starting to appreciate that we will never have a theory of everything since reality cannot itself be a concept. Reality must underlie even thinking. Even our most basic equations are ultimately concepts.
Layers on layers, theories built upon theories, imagined worlds built on top of imagined worlds. How to proceed? Does the universe provide us with a sense of direction to get to the bottom of this all?
Indeed it does and the direction is characteristically simple. The worlds that seem “healthier” to us provide the direction. Get outside in nature, get in touch with the senses, smell the roses. Let thoughts “about things” subside and see what is left. Don’t believe every thought that comes into your head. Spend less time in your mind and more with the stillness of being.
It remains a most remarkable thing to me that the universe does actually provide a sense of direction to everyone. It is a clear direction, pointing the way home in simplicity, yet often overlooked as the guide is quiet and we often prefer to follow noisier, more urgent voices. This inner guide is sometimes referred to as the “still voice” within; wise, patient and ready for you when you are ready to pay attention to it. The more time you spend refining the listening to- and the following of this inner wisdom, and quietly observing the results of this in the world, the more you will come to appreciate its value. Others around you will benefit too. The world could use a little more wisdom at present!
In the end, if you want to understand what is real, you cannot escape investigating your own sense of being since it is that that provides the stamp of reality to everything else. However heroic your efforts and noble your intentions in this direction, you cannot hope to approach ultimate reality if you ignore this vital aspect of yourself. The sense of being is not only the master key to a deeper understanding of ourselves, but also, in a paradoxical way, unlocks the universe for us. A deeper, more coherent and fuller connection to the “real world” results.
Exploring what you truly are means discarding what you are not. If you like thinking of yourself as very separate from everyone and everything else (perhaps superior or inferior in some way), don’t travel down the road towards reality since the sense of separateness becomes a part of what is ultimately discarded. In the truly natural (non artificial) state, mind and heart open and embrace the totality of the universe and all beings. What is real is ultimately truthful, conscious and blissful. It is also fully connected.
The sense of being, of presence, is but the taste of reality, the signpost for your return home, located at the border between the “real world” and what is beyond. With the still voice as your guide, follow the sense of being to its source and find what is truly real, whatever it turns out to be. “You will not regret it”.
[This essay is released under the terms of the Creative Commons “CC By 4.0″ license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Author: Jasper Horrell (@jasperhorrell)]
Jasper Horrell 