Cosmin Visan

For example, several people can simultaneously witness the same scene, but each may have a distinctly different description of the what they saw.

If we limit our awareness to only the 5 senses or our 5 senses - you are right there is an infinite reality that we can't even begin to perceive. If we limit reality to only what we are conscious of - we really limit ourselves to simply "our" own experience of reality. Reality is pretty infinite in that it is all probabilities of what can be - in some theories existing all at once in multiple dimensions. In the quantum realm of all probabilities, for example, the particles of matter making up our physical reality pop in and out of existence seemingly from nothing - and as those particles entangle - the actions, or reality of one, instantly effects other entangle particles across the universe - as one universal interacting reality. The discussion on the subconscious or unconscious mind is interesting - at the conscious level we are only aware of a tiny "right now" piece of our own reality most being stored in our subconscious memories - some which we can access some destroyed by pruned neural connections. And even when we do recall a memory, our brains change or re-consolidate that memory or ever so slightly - mixing it with associated memories into an altered reality, At the unconscious level - we many not have access to the information any more than you have access to the communications going on within your computer to create the screen display - but it is a massive interconnected reality engine of its own which forms and drives your ego and personality from which you perceive material reality. And indeed for any one entity their tiny speck of reality is what they are or can become aware of

Hmmm my brain just exploded - I think its time for a beer!

Here is an excerpt from a book I wrote that summarizes the book's answer to your question "What is reality?" The key point is that 'reality' differs in different states of consciousness (Boyer RW. Pointless: The Reality behind Quantum Theory, Routledge, 2021, pps. 258-259).

"Summary of meanings of reality

In earlier years of modern science, everything in front of the eyes was considered objective because it was observable. Everything behind the eyes was subjective, not observable, and unreliable. So, the dividing line between objective and subjective was the ordinary sensory level. When neuroscience began investigating brain structures behind the eyes, it brought the brain into objective science. It has never been clear in objective science what the dividing line between objective and subjective would be in the brain. Also, all finer-grained layers underneath brain structures, including molecules, elements, atomic and sub-atomic particles and now ‘quantum objects’ and fundamental fields all the way down to the gravitational field and the Planck scale are now considered objective and physical. However, these layers are considered only indirectly observable (see Chapters 1-2). There is no place in this physical model where subjective mind and consciousness actually exist.

In mainstream physical science, reality is the entirety of objective physical layers of nature, and subjective mind and consciousness continue to be unreal. Some theories in cognitive science suggest that mind and consciousness don’t even exist at all and should be removed from science—argued in the ‘eliminativist’ view in cognitive science and also in the earlier behaviorist paradigm in scientific psychology—noted in earlier chapters.

Quantum theories are going beyond local physical reality to nonlocal nonphysical fields, such as information and unified field theories. But there still is no place for mind and consciousness, so they are not yet accepted as real. However, cutting-edge three-level models are now positing subjective levels of nature as real—such as experiential reality, the psi wave and the implicate order, and to some degree the ‘computational’ and ‘mathematical’ universe. Some experts are also proposing that the entire universe is a conscious biological organism. These views suggest that reality includes the objective physical level, subjective experiential reality or mind, and also consciousness itself. This progress clearly is moving rapidly toward the completely holistic 3-in-1 Vedic account in which consciousness as primary.

In the developmental model of states of consciousness... the belief that the only real level of nature is the physical level is characteristic of the ordinary waking state of consciousness. In ancient Vedic records, this has long been identified as the state of ignorance.

Again, in the 3-in-1 Vedic account, the gross physical finite level is relatively real, the subtle nonphysical finite level is relatively more real, and the infinite eternal is total reality. Not recognizing different meanings of reality in different states of consciousness led to major dilemmas in the history of science, and religion as well."

If interested in exploring this answer in detail, the book is useful. Also, many aspects of the issue are addressed in numerous papers available full-text, open-access on ResearchGate.com. Thanks for considering them. RW Boyer

Cosmin,

Yes, everything is. "Consciousness is all there is." But the 'reality' of what that means is different in different phenomenal states of consciousness, and this is quite important for respecting and clarifying different meanings of 'reality' on the path to actually living the full value of 'Reality. 'That is the ultimate 'Reality' in the most developed state, but can seem confusing and 'meaningless' on the path. I hope this is clear enough to make good sense.

Very best wishes, Cosmin.

Bob

yep - we seem to be all living in a mutual "dream" of our own interrelated "conscious" creation so in that sense matter is a creation of that conscious condition. And indeed ir is likely that - "consciousness is all there is" - even in cosmic scientific terms reality is simply considered or termed "information".

I am surprised that no one has yet written about "emergence." The mind an emergent phenomenon of the multiple layers of neurons and neural networks in our brain. The mind is not physical, but emerges from the activity of our brains. Is the the mind real? Of course it is. But it is not physical!

Once brain activity ceases, we are dead - no more consciousness.

Antonio,

With all due respect, you have it just the opposite. I am today posting a new pre-print on ResearchGate.com which I think would be informative for you because it addresses your point about 'emergence,' as well as many key issues that relate that help to understand a different and much more profound perspective about the relationship of brain and consciousness. The paper is titled:

Superdeterminism and Other Popular "Illusions' in Physics Today

Thanks for considering it.

Best wishes,

Bob (RW Boyer)

Thank you Bob. I downloaded it and will read it soon.

Dear Bob,

I looked over your preprint. It seems to discuss only two points of view: Subatomic physics and Transcendental Hindu-interpreted Experience. There are many other points of view to consider. I would recommend you read: Steven Johnson, EMERGENCE: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, and Software, Scribner, 2002.

Antonio,

Please consider reading carefully the paper, including the discussion in it on epistemological, ontological, and phenomenal emergence -- I'd be interested in your response to its examination of emergence. The paper is not about "Hindu-interpreted Experience," so I'm wondering how you came to describe the paper in those terms, given the actual content of the paper. I do appreciate your feedback, and look forward to your more careful reading of it and then reply.

Thanks and best wishes,

Bob

To answer the question in its entirety is just impossible using our current level of understanding and the descriptive tools used to observe, experiment with, and make a reliable model of reality. 

Therefore, in the following, we are going to address only a segment of reality, which is a side result of my latest research on emergent information processing, that reveals surprisingly simple sets of rules operating above a matrix of constituting elements of the space where the whole thing is unfolding. 

The research on EIP revealed that we can start with a very primitive set of local rules using a simple, homogeneous medium or matrix, which leads in many cases of neighborhoods and local rules to even multilevel emergent systems. 

While observing those structures, which are created by open-source, Python software GoL-N24, a stunning world of emergence is entered. It is even possible to define error-resilient emergents that resist the injection of even 1% of evaluation errors. It was found that some emergent resist changes of the neighborhoods and maintain its shape. 

While observing animations generated by the above-mentioned software, it feels like looking at the kitchen of the universe and even life as such. It is really fascinating how life-like systems can be created using quite primitive models. 

Those observations led me to write three papers in one: a review, research, and probable future directions and development of this research; see Emergent Information Processing review for all details. 

To conclude. Reality can be an emergent property of the matrix and generic interaction rules among its constituting elements. It is necessary to stress out the words 'can be'.

Here's a very simple example of that (there are so many other examples on could cite):

Jiri,

Please consider reading the new paper on ResearchGate.com "Superdeterminism and Other Popular 'Illusions' in Physics Today," which in the section 'Self-Organizing' Randomness' is a discussion of three types of emergence (epistemic, ontological, and phenomenal). I'd like your feedback on it. In my view, like with Antonio Lucero' reply in this thread, your view of 'reality' is upside down, and the paper I mentioned above (and my Routledge book publication with much more detail, "Pointless: The Reality behind Quantum Theory) provides a rational explanation.

Thanks for considering it, and best wishes,

Bob (RW Boyer)