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Atheists don't care much for my books,
Reality 101 or
The Complete Universe of
Memes because they feel like I offer too much support to religion.
That, I think, is too bad. Religionists feel the the same way in reverse.
My tendency and intentions are to describe things as I see them, and not
according to anyone's fancy or political expediency. If I end up proving
God exists, so be it. I can vouch that God will be nothing like anyone has
described. You wanna find out?—just click on the link, because the larger
book portrays a natural, observable god that's as real as anything you
might have on your mind. I worked hard to understand it. I wish others
would do the same, and see it for themselves. The closest I know of anyone
having done so is the atheist who coined the name of the book's subject.
Try to grasp that which follows, if you think it is easy or just something
I imagined. I am an atheist, but it is because of this that I refer to
myself as a secular person.
Picture This: Reality can be
understood as a tree arranged like the files and folders (or,
subdirectories) in a computer, the root folder being labeled "Natural
Reality". From that family root and stem grow two child branches labeled
"Tangible Reality" and "Intangible Reality". Although covered with subject
matter represented as leaves, Tangible Reality has no branches, and is
recognizable by its adornment-free, predictable form, by which its
features can be described as whatever they are and shown to others with
general agreement resulting. The leaves on the Tangible Reality branch
represent those features of Nature which have been, and have yet to be,
investigated. Like the insights promoted in the
Creative Dissatisfaction chapter named The Mountain, The
Reality Tree is a beautiful example of a functioning artificial
fictional reality. Read on to see what that means. Sketch your
understanding so far on a sheet of paper, to see how it might look. Keep
sketching while you read. Raise your branches up from the root
folder, rather than down as is normal.
Intangible Reality branches into "Natural Intangible", and
"Artificial Intangible" realities. The Natural Intangible Reality limb,
although covered with leaves, does not fork again but, like its smaller
relative, Natural Tangible Reality, is otherwise recognizable by its
plain, dependable form, by which its features can be described as whatever
they are and shown to others with general agreement resulting, and depend
on culture only for the form of their expression.
Arising quickly out of the ponderous branch representing
Artificial Realities are massive forks labeled "Practical Artificial
reality", "Cyber Reality", and "Fictional Reality". They should be easily
recognized by all who view them, as being labeled according to the kinds
of leaves they support, the twigs and leaves of all these grafted branches
being the variety of subject matter with which human beings deal, or to
which they apply their minds, and which contain the various forms of human
aspirations, knowledge and understanding. My mission in
Reality 101 is to describe some of those leaves, so
that others can learn to recognize the various forms of reality for
themselves, and define to which branch of it their interests most apply.
Tangible Reality defines itself; being tangible means it
can be touched, or observed as being a thing of substance, or a location
upon a thing of substance toward which one can direct others knowing they
will find it there; and, also, an effect or condition which can be
recognized by others, which involves a thing of substance in its
occurrence. Tangible Reality is what would exist whether or not human
beings were present to recognize it, in some form which can directly
affect at least one of the acknowledged five senses, and can be directly
verified by other people.
Intangible Reality, because it does not necessarily
directly affect sensory organs, does require an intelligent presence to
recognize its existence, and to determine to which fork its various guises
belong. Intangible Natural Reality upholds the leaves which represent the
various matters relative to human existence, which humans have developed
ways to understand and apply, that can be depended upon to work whenever
and wherever they may be used, and which humans have learned to translate
from one culture to the next for dependable results in their dealings with
each other, the results of which can be indirectly verified by other
people.
Artificial Realities exist only as a result of human
endeavors, but are recognizable for their lack of substance, and lack of
physical verifiablity. A computer is an artificial device, but can be
recognized as being an object with tangible reality. Its presence can be
verified. The images displayed on its monitor are recognizable as being
only results of controlled electron beams affecting phosphors painted on
the glass, but are interpreted by humans who've learned to recognize the
intent behind them, and applied according to their agreed-upon meanings.
While the meaning is usually verifiable, the methods which produced it can
only be duplicated by copying or imitating the controls by which it was
created, which is possible to do. Therefore, they represent Practical
Applied Artificial Reality, along with such human creations as TV images,
music, speech, values, etc., even though they are components of Cyber
Reality.
Cyber Reality is Artificial Reality created by a computer
or other artificial device, rather than a human mind. It is artificial
Artificial Reality. Fictional Artificial Reality requires suspension of
disbelief in order to function, and proof is never offered as a condition
of acceptance. That which represents evidence is of the type an American
courtroom would label 'hearsay' or 'calls for assumption', and refuse to
recognize.
It is foolish to demand proof of any claims being made
about the various realities. Proof depends on the willingness of all
parties to accept it as valid, as much as does the original claim for
which proof is being offered or demanded. The only universal which can
stand up to all demands made for truth to be demonstrated, is that of
verifiability. Only by its verifiability can the nature of any claim about
reality be made known; and also by its lack of verifiability. Again: It is
foolish to demand proof of any claims being made about any aspect of
reality the existence of which is not verifiable. This form of reality
must be given its due recognition as being fictional artificial
reality. Does this notion mean it has to be considered unreal?
NO!— but the onus to support it remains with those who insist otherwise.
Of all the variants of reality, Fictional Artificial
Reality can be the most controversial because its entire realm exists
within the mind (including the composite mind of a culture), and cannot be
demonstrated in any fashion external to that, even though it is the
largest branch of reality. Its statements are unverifiable. It functions
only as a result of common agreement concerning various applications of
symbology, and fails to function when those agreements cease, and so
requires constant replenishment through enforcement, rituals, and the
spoken word for its existence to continue. Some cultures regard this
variant of reality to be so important the replenishments are required by
law for all adherents, often according to a schedule, and outsiders are
viewed as being threats when they do not follow the symbological code nor
perform the procedures set forth for replenishment, and regarded with
suspicion when they do.
To recognize a portion of reality as fictional, or even
artificial, should not serve as an excuse to devalue it. It is, after all,
a form of reality. It has come about as a result of human agreement
concerning aspects of their existence with which they had no other way to
deal. For that very reason, most of humanity will uphold some form of
Fictional Reality, regard it very highly, and regard their culture so
important they would go to war and risk death in support of that reality.
Others of their culture will honor them for taking that stand and their
willingness to sacrifice in support of the rest, and hold them in high
esteem. To be outspoken in support of it results in praise and to question
it will gain the condemnation of all its adherents.
What is important is to recognize all elements of this
portion of reality, to further recognize when it fails to function, or
when its functions diminish, and then to make corrections so that function
will resume. Friction between two cultures is almost wholly a result of
disagreements in this realm of human reality when they are not a result of
one encroaching upon the other to satiate its greed. One or the other of
those two items will account for most of the wars, and battles, fought
during recorded history. They will also most likely account for the
majority of personal battles, marital disputes, and spats between
neighbors or members of a family. They often serve as a distraction to
avoid resolving the actual issues which should be dealt with instead.
Further examples of Fictional Artificial Realities within a
culture are the governments set up to guide it, and corporations and other
enterprises which do business within it. Both depend on continued human
endeavor for their existence. If the people involved would stop doing
their daily assigned tasks in support of them, they would simply vanish
but for their artifacts (the buildings, tools, and documents created to
support them). It is replenishment by human activity that fuels them, and
the agreement of those who thrive in the culture, as written into laws,
which created them. Seldom would anyone question their reality or their
right to be recognized as what they claim to be.
To put an abrupt end to every facet of Fictional Reality
upheld in our cultures would devastate our existences. Most of us would
likely die as a result of something so foolish. Compare the reality of
that, to the foolishness of anyone insisting the existence of all
Fictional Realities is something for which proof must be required. These
fictional entities form the foundations upon which we thrive. Would it not
be better to recognize them for whatever they are, and then set about the
task of improving them?
I would fully expect any wise person to agree with that,
once they had gotten a handle on it. Problems are introduced by our
various ways of perceiving reality which, for the most part, operate to
prevent the exercise of that kind of wisdom. Most of us rely on a
priori concepts, according to which statements and events are
compared to preconceived ideas, derived from the notion that reason alone
can determine the nature, source, and consequences of a subject being
investigated. Problems elicited with this approach arise in a twofold
manner: (1) Evaluating the new according to the old does not serve to shed
light on the errors of the old, so no corrective actions can be discerned.
(2) That the investigators' reason is determined by the nature of
their education, the amount of it, their intestinal fortitude, and the
worldview
which they support, is highlighted by the great variety of determinations,
especially in opposition of each other, that have already been made by
investigators of the total amount of all the subject matter they have set
about describing. This, in itself, serves to explain the overwhelming
variety of religions proclaiming the truths handed them each alone by a
god which rules over nature.
The opposite approach to a perception of reality, as
philosophically defined, is a posteriori, which says that reasons
can be derived only by observation of facts. This would be fine, were it
not a fact that a priori influences will form a bias point for
making those observations. As a natural secularist, I lean toward this
approach with that reservation constantly in mind, knowing I must maintain
that reservation if I am going to improve the state of my own ability to
learn. If an a priori approach can only be derived from a set of
precedents including the errors they would perpetuate, and if that
approach also thwarts efforts made to learn, then I feel it should be
avoided. Even if the a priori conceptual basis seems complete,
that makes it no more valid a tool for determining facts than would any
other fictional novel or story, which can also seem, in itself, to be
complete.
If something is complete, what facts would still need to be
determined? Is not the method used for making such a determination very
similar to that approach of the natural scientific method which I call
discovery?— the only difference being that a predetermined answer is
required in order to support the precepts upon which the fictional reality
is based, and the discovery sought is for a way of supporting
that, rather than for a useful answer.
 That
is the same procedure extinct societies used, once they had reached their
peak, to foster their own decline. Only when science advances, and so
advances the status of new knowledge, do societies advance (in spite of
vociferous opponents of new knowledge claiming the obverse). The correctly
applied discovery procedure requires every individual to wonder why "I
don't know," and then make an effort to discover the answers that lead him
to the next step, where he can again say, "I don't know," and renew his
sense of wonder. The result of this is the repeated epiphany (often
referred to as a 'Religious Experience') that makes a smiling individual
stand out from the crowd of sourpusses that surround him.
Interactive cause and effect define the laws of Nature by
which we are most affected. A person who struggles and achieves, and gains
the thrill of accomplishment from it, will smile a lot more often than
someone made paranoid by the society whose accelerating rate of change he
sees to be a plot playing out against him.
Look at World Views
Consequence of Artificial Reality
Books Home
Don't let yourself be mesmerized into thinking the world is an artificial
creation dreamed up by some unschooled, somewhat intelligent designer.
Existence of our universe happened because it could not not do so, and
this inexpensive eBook explains why. Don't be so cheap you allow yourself
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