A Startling Possibility: Life is but a Dream?
It seems that the world and the entirety of mankind is on the brink of some great realization that could completely revolutionize the nature of our existence.
Those who are savvy with spiritual, mystical, or philosophical understandings may be totally familiar with this view. The Hindus call this world Maya, the great illusion. Buddhists spend untold time in meditation hoping to be liberated from this false existence. Philosophical idealists believe that the world as we know it is nothing more than a mental construction. Many indigenous worldviews state that the world is a collective dream.
They all seem to be saying the same thing. This world is an illusion.
This flies in the face of the mainstream western view that the physical world is fundamental and exists independent of ourselves—otherwise known as materialism. Most don’t think this to be an assumption, but an indisputable fact. This only goes to show how fundamental of an assumption it is.
In fact, the materialist assumption underpins the scientific method upon which all contemporary scientific knowledge is based. That means our knowledge of gravity, evolution, biology, and chemistry all rests upon the foundation of materialism. Despite its ubiquity, there are some very intelligent men who don’t believe that it’s true.
Recent discoveries of science have been indicating an apparently primary role of consciousness in the nature of reality. Quantum Physics, particularly, has been indicating this fact. In light of this, some quantum physicists are sounding much more like mystics than one might expect:
I regard consciousness as fundamental. I regard matter as derivative from consciousness. We cannot get behind >consciousness. Everything that we talk about, everything that we regard as existing, postulates consciousness.
-Max Planck, originator of quantum theory-
Within quantum physics, there is this idea called particle-wave duality. Essentially, it states that everything that exists can behave as either a particle (a solid object moving with particular mass, velocity, and location) or a wave (a diffuse energy potential with no clear mass, velocity, or location) and everything in between.
The truly remarkable part about this is what determines whether or not something seems to behave as a particle or a wave at a particular moment. This distinction isn’t entirely random, something must determine whether something is a particle or a wave, right?
As it turns out, that something is us.
What has been determined by the infamous double slit experiment is that light and—it turns out—matter seems to behave as a particle or a wave based on whether or not someone is observing it. That is, they seem to behave as a wave when we don’t look and a particle when we do.
As you can imagine, this experiment put the scientific community into an uproar. Quantum physics is so contentious in fact that even now, 90 years later, there is still no consensus on what the double slit experiment means.
Some postulate it means we live in one of infinite alternate realities. Many claim that there is no reality other than the observation that is made. There is even a theory (my personal favorite) that it is consciousness itself which causes the collapse of the wave-function. Though the truth is—we don’t know the truth.
(if you’d like to see more theories you can learn about them here)
Regardless of what the verdict is, there is one thing that is for sure: the universe isn’t so solid as we imagine it is.
While the scientists argue, I can’t help but wonder:
What if the universe is a projection of mind? What would it mean about our connection to this vast cosmos? Our connection to one another? What new possibilities may emerge from this new understanding?
I don’t have the answers to any of these questions, but they’re certainly fun to contemplate. Perhaps the greatest wisdom, though, can be found in an old song:
Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily
Life is but a dream
source
Happy dreaming!
There is also the theory that we may be simulations in some vast future computer! I enjoyed reading your post, keep writing like that and you will do well on Steemit. Upvoted, resteemen and followed.
Thank you! That is tremendously validating! I've not had an outlet to share these kinds of ideas before- so I'm bursting at the seams with them.
I like that theory as well. Sometimes I even interact with the world as if it is a video game. It creates an interesting sort of perspective that-as a long time video gamer-I tend to enjoy.
We stand at the brink of many new discoveries, advances in Quantum computing will give us undreamed of abilities to to make processing unbelievably powerful. If we are advancing so rapidly in my lifetime, imagine what power computers a thousand years hence will have? We only need to stay alive and not wipe ourselves out. We also have to be very careful with how we allow AI to develop. Remember the intelligent AI Hal, in 2001 A Space Odyssey? Then it was Science Fiction but today it is an all to real possibility..
Indeed. The issue is, whether we will survive is questionable at this point. XD
Still, I have hope and am excited to see these developments progress. I have little doubt that there will be sentient AI systems within the next 20 years- which is both exciting and concerning.
Though I see the issue being as much about the way they're designed as it is about how humans respond to them. We treat all the other animals of the Earth like they're our possession. We even discriminate against one another for such trivial shit like skin-color and religious creed.
An entirely foreign form of intelligence? Humans may not be too kind. And treating AI the way we've treated most every form of life would likely not end well
You think very much the same as me. It is always good when you find like minds on Steemit. I have met very interesting people who are always open to exchanging ideas.
That is such encouraging news. I've found it challenging to connect with people of like mind oftentimes since I so consistently go against the grain. That open exchange of ideas is just the medicine I'm looking for.
An interesting read, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
It is best to source images that are not your own. Perhaps under the image, like this:
source
Thanks
Asher
Thank you. I will update that.
Nice post.
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