Professor Hoffman wrote a book, “The Case Against Reality,” in 2019, in which he dares us to rethink everything we believe about the world we see. Hoffman emphasises that what we consider to be the nature of our reality is in fact our subjective reality or current interface.
Thus, the question arises as to how awareness and reality are related. Are they related or unrelated?
Reality possesses no inherent qualities. Although reality does exist, existence is not a quality. Hoffman’s theory is that human beings, and indeed all life, have developed in such a way that they impose features on reality that are necessary for their individual and species survival. We do not only see certain qualities of reality – length, colour, texture, taste, smell, and specific vibrational frequencies, for example – we are the literal source of these properties. They would not be present unless we noticed them. Underneath this interface is a universe of objective consciousness. This is the point at which our current conceptions of space and time must be reconsidered. In this world, sentient agents interact in a way that may explain a large number of the world’s current puzzles. Our conscious experience of the “taste of chocolate” is a basic example of a current puzzle. We lack a scientific explanation that explains how our conscious experience of the “taste of chocolate” is generated. This new paradigm of inquiry may result in the development of new ideas that are applicable not just to our existing reality but also to the potential for the emergence of additional conscious experiences.
The Reality-Consciousness Argument
Nobody has been able to define reality with any degree of clarity in almost 2,500 years. Language and assertions are required for the definition of reality. To define something,’ it must be in the situation of being either true or untrue; the two are mutually exclusive. As a result, there can be no truth in the absence of its polar opposite (untruth). Language is not synonymous with reality, just as a map is not synonymous with an area. A map only denotes the reality to which consciousness is being directed. Similarly, a menu is not the meal, however it does assist in determining what to order.
Trying to regain consciousness. Without consciousness, there is no such thing as reality in any of the forms we might imagine it to take. Consciousness permits us to see’ what is in front of us. Even prior to the emergence of language. This skill is shared by the majority of higher mammals. This is the true nature of basic thought as far as we can understand it. The fundamental mind is the capacity to be conscious in the absence of language and so the ability to reflect – as we do through our ability to employ abstract symbols called language. While animals do not reflect or think in the same way as humans do, we share this fundamental mind set throughout our lives. Each day, we encounter it as we react emotionally to an event or condition. There is no thought; only a physical response to pleasure or pain, wrath or joy. None of this is deliberate, though we may later reflect on our experience and verbalise it.
Returning to reality. Reality is not a single entity, but a collection of entities. There are as many possible meanings as there are people on the earth. While social members exhibit a high degree of conformity, this is primarily due to language and education (and indoctrination – not necessarily negative indoctrination, but indoctrination nonetheless), and as a result, certain ‘ideas’ are fed to us primarily through indoctrination and almost always unconsciously via conditioning, both mentally and physically, throughout our development as huma.
Thus, language is required for us to even consider reality; otherwise, like animals, we are just submerged in it (reality). Thus, our experience is the result of a dynamic interaction with our surroundings. It is not linear (as language would have us believe), but loopy, constantly involved in feedback and reaction throughout our entire existence. It primarily comprised affect (emotional reaction to events) and affordance. Affordance refers to our ability to engage with our environment(s) and respond positively or negatively to any given event. Thus, when we encounter a rock that is precisely the proper height, we “know” we can sit on it or stand on it to view further, or we can hide behind it in a game of hide and seek. Thus, affordance implies that both humans and animals may instantly “know” how to use items in their environments – of course, we learnt to use and know our environments via participation in them and learning how to act and use particular elements through affordances. (However, we cannot tell with precision how animals learn.) We make use of these circumstances to our advantage or detriment (Affordances may enable us to choose beneficial things or reject things that are incompatible with our desires).
Reality as you or I experience it on a daily basis is not reality in and of itself. It is an interpretation of what is “out there” as seen through the lens of a fixed position and a preconceived point of view – your point of view. Our senses and language are both limited, as is our education, or lack thereof. However, it helps us to function in this world, and in particular to engage in relatively efficient interactions with our surroundings and social partners (most of the time). Thus, even if we do not ‘get’ precisely what reality is, we can nevertheless thrive and flourish in the world as we know it.
Experiencing Reality and Expanding Our Consciousness
Reality is our experience from our density of consciousness. For almost 70,000 years, human people have been growing their mind/body/spirit complexes at a self-aware stage of consciousness. We require a new theory of evolution, in the broad sense of a new dynamic; it need not resemble natural selection-based evolution. We require awareness dynamics. One constraint on this dynamic is that when projected back to our current space-time, it must appear to be evolution by natural selection at the space-time interface.
In some ways, natural selection is right in the context of our existing interface. However, it is insufficiently detailed to represent the correct dynamics of the conscious agents that exist outside of this interface. If we develop new consciousness dynamics, they will more closely resemble evolution by natural selection when projected back into our existing interface.
It is true that our brains do not always optimise our ability to comprehend reality. Our perceptions are mediated by a complex network of conscious and subconscious interpretations that result in our experiences of reality.
That is the benefit of having no limits in expanding our consciousness. Everyday we can choose to make a shift and be more aware. That is the fundamental idea behind Journey into Shunya and Expansion. Witness the marvel of having an elevated conscious state under the guidance of masterful coaches at The Coaching Conclave 2021.
