Is Reality a Paradox?

There are so many things in the world that humans question and concern themselves with, but they hardly ever question the world itself. Not many people take enough time to be curious and to question the actual reality of the world that they live in. They just assume that what they see and what they hear is reality. But what we see and what we hear is a filtered version of reality.

Try and imagine how you see the world compared to how others potentially see the world. Your color blue could be somebody else’s color red. There is so much suffering in the world due to miscommunication, but how could there not be suffering when what you think is up your neighbor might think is down? If you take the time to be curious enough, you will find three words that explain everything in existence—perception is reality.

Physics First, Then Philosophy—A quick physics lesson in order to understand the meaning of reality

They always say, “Curiosity killed the cat.” And that is actually the case in “Schrodinger’s cat.” This paradox thought experiment was devised by nobel prize-winning Austrian Physicist Erwin Schrodinger. The experiment which explains quantum physics in a nutshell says that if you put a cat, poison, a geiger counter, radioactive material, and a hammer in a box then there’s a 50/50 chance that the geiger counter will detect radiation. If the geiger counter detects radiation, this then would cause the hammer to smash the poison and kill the cat. (Margaret Rouse, Schrodinger’s Cat). But, because there is a 50/50 chance of either outcome, it would be impossible to know if the cat was dead or alive until you actually opened the box. This leaves the cat suspended in a state of both alive and dead, because it has to be one and not neither, but it can’t be in just one state until somebody actually opens the box and observes the cat. (Rouse). Quantum physics in elementary terms—Observation collapses all possible realities into one.

Similar to this thought experiment, an actual experiment that shows perception is reality, has been conducted and replicated for decades.

Physicists have known for along time that a photon of light can act either as a wave OR a particle depending on how it is observed and measured. To demonstrate this, physicists conduct an experiment that we will refer to as the “Photon Beam-Splitter” experiment. According to the article Quantum Experiment in Space Confirms Reality is What You Make it Adrian Cho, Phd in experimental particle physics, talks about a team in Italy that recently replicated a newer version of this experiment in space, rather than in a laboratory. (Cho). This is important because it shows that the experiment works in the real world as well.

Cho says that the original experiment is what led Theoretician John Archibald Wheeler to discover that not only does the observer effect the outcome of the experiment, but that you can also delay the observers measurement choice, which proves that the photon’s behavior is not predetermined but is dependent on the observer. (Cho).

Cho explains that in the experiment, they shoot a photon of light through what they call a “beam-splitter” which splits the quantum wave of light in half and sends the two waves along two different paths. A second “beam-splitter” then recombines the waves and the photon then hits one of two detectors. (See figure 1 below). But if the same experiment is done without the second “beam-splitter” then the first “beam-splitter” never splits the wave in half, and instead the photon acts like a particle by choosing only one path for the entire course instead of two. (Cho). The delayed choice effect that Wheeler discovered is when the “beam-splitter” experiment is conducted , the experimenter can actually wait to decide to remove the second “beam-splitter” until the photon of light has passed through the first one. This means that “a decision in the present determines an event that already happened in the past” (Cho); whether the photon split like a wave or took one path like a particle is dependent upon a decision made in the present moment. (Cho).

Reality

If a photon of light changes form based on the observer, then imagine how everyday reality is altered depending on who is observing it and how it is being observed.

Like these experiments, the reality that we experience exists in all possible states until we collapse all of the states into one by observing the physical world. People say things like, “Just tell me the truth!” But what we fail to recognize is that more times than not the truth is not as black and white as we think—in fact “the truth” is a paradox of its own. From the time we are born every single experience we have had effects how we will perceive and react to “the truth” of the present moment—whether we’re consciously aware of it or not. If our reality depends on our previous experiences then our reality is subjective. As far as humans are concerned, there isn’t ever just one truth or one objective reality, therefore perception is reality.

In the video, Do we see reality as it is? cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman explains that in his lab they have run hundreds of thousands of evolution simulations where some organisms see all of reality, some see part of reality, and some see no reality and are only concerned with fitness. Who wins? “Perception of reality goes extinct.” (Hoffman). In almost every simulation the organisms that see no reality but are just tuned to fitness, drive to extinction the organisms that see reality as it actually is. If evolution doesn’t favor accurate perceptions then what does that tell us about all of the humans presently in existence? (Hoffman).

According to Hoffman we have an animalistic survival advantage because we do not see reality as it actually is, but instead we use simple animalistic tricks and hacks to keep us alive. In fact, our brain is a species specific hack or tool that helps keep us alive. He uses the metaphor of a computer. In figure two below, the folder is in the bottom right corner, is blue, and is rectangular. But does that mean that the paper it contains is blue and rectangular and has the properties of the folder? Hoffman says, “Of course not. It is not there to show you the reality of the computer, in fact it is there to hide that reality.” (Hoffman). The desktop of our computer is space and time and the icons on our desktop are the physical objects in the world that we see.

Hoffman explains that there is an “obvious objection” to his metaphor, and says someone will say, “Hoffman, if you think that a train coming down the track at 200 mph is just [an illusion like the icon] then why don’t you step in front of it?” (Hoffman). He explains that just as you wouldn’t carelessly drag a computer icon into the trash, you should not step in front of a train because trains, cliffs, snakes, etc. should all be taken seriously since they are designed to keep us safe, but they should not be taken literally. He says, “perception is not a window into the true nature of reality.” (Hoffman).

This is important because if we realize that our perceived realities are just a way to keep us alive, then we can go a step further and also realize that learning to remain more objective to reality in certain situations could help end suffering in the world. It is time for our species to take it a step further than survival of the fittest, and to start to take accountability for our false perceptions of the world because for most people staying alive is not an everyday problem, but being content or happy is. Unhappiness and suffering is due to our illusions and false perceptions of the world, which are the root of all evil. When every event in your life up until now effects how you filter the now, then somebody who has had very different events in their life may see things completely different than you. This is what causes miscommunication. Does that mean that you are wrong and they are right, or vice versa? Of course not, because if you remain objective to reality then you realize that there isn’t a right or wrong, or an up or down.

Remaining Objective

In the article Seeking Balance in an Either-Or World, Kathleen Parker talks about how in politics people want to know if you are conservative or liberal. She explains how people think that “in the middle” or “it depends” is a weak answer. (Parker, Present Tense 152-154). But like Parker I think that a balance in the middle when it comes to anything in life will help you see objective reality more clearly than anybody else.

If you can remain in the middle instead of leaning towards any extremes you are then able to step outside of your own shoes and see reality from anything or anybody’s point of view. This will leave you more aware of the objective world, instead of being blinded by the illusions that most humans can’t look past. We create a living hell for ourselves and for others when we are “blind to our own blindness” as Hoffman says. (Hoffman). So, instead of being attached to your ego and its perceptions of the world, try looking at things from somebody else’s view. This is the only way to end suffering.

Perception is reality until you realize that perception actually isn’t true reality.