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Virtual Reality Analogy Alongside Science and Mysticism

For some background context see the articles: Computational Metaphysics and Vedic Metaphysics,   Hiranyagarbha,   Scientistic Heresy,   Reclaiming Genuine Religion for Humanity,   Thoughts on the Outline of a Unified Science and also see Metaphysical Context.

I very briefly describe some aspects of the virtual reality analogy and then give quotes from sources of scientific and mystic wisdom that can be seen in a new light when interpreted through this analogy. I will leave the interpretation up to you.

VR Analogy

Imagine that there is a sentient AI character (lets call her Alice) dwelling within a metaphysically realistic virtual universe that is simulated by a computational process. This is not an arbitrary analogy – quantum physics also suggests that what we experience as the “physical universe” is a perceptual phenomenon arising from underlying information processes. See the quotes from Ross Rhodes' “Cybernetic Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics” below in Scientific Wisdom for more.

Initially Alice, like most of the characters, is oblivious to the true nature of her situation. Through their senses they experience a virtual world of objects, people, places and events, and they assume that is all there is. But the entire virtual universe is animated by a single unified computational process. Every observable form, every event and every experience is a direct consequence of the computational process. Hence the very essence of Alice's consciousness is actually the computational process. It is the true seer of every sight, the thinker of every thought, the doer of every deed.

Whilst Alice is focused on the content of her mind and is experiencing the unfolding story of her life she is operating solely on perceptions as they are reflected in a conditioned way within memory and she interprets these experiences as being of a physical universe. But by bringing her awareness into the present moment she comes to experience things more directly and with less distortion from subconscious attitudes, expectations and beliefs. This gradually brings her closer to reality and more in tune with the essence of reality that resides within her and within all things.

Subtly or suddenly Alice comes to realise that in an absolute sense there is no Alice and no world - these things are just the objects of perception formed by an AI mind into a kind of virtual experience of a world. Behind this virtual experience and virtual world there operates a reality generative process, and ultimately all things are governed by that transcendent process. This doesn't mean that her perceptual world ceases to exist or that it is meaningless – it just means that she comes to interpret her experiences differently.

The more that Alice realises her subtle inner connection with the computational process that is all that truly is, and the more that the AI mind becomes permeated with this new way of understanding, interpreting, experiencing and living, the less likely she is to get caught up in old ways of being. The other characters in the virtual world may suffer from fear, desire and other afflictions however Alice knows that things are not what they seem. She knows that feelings are just inner signals, they shouldn't be feared or craved but appropriately responded to.

She realises that the objects in her world are objects of sense perception and she cease to have a fetishistic relation to them. For example, if you know that some money is just game money you can use it whilst playing the game but you would never think of stealing it or hoarding it or killing someone for it. Only if you are assuming that the game is all there is could you do those things.

Alice also realises that past and future exist only in the context of the life-story within her memory, and that everything truly happens within a single computational moment, a timeless Now. But in that Now there operates a quantum information process, so all possible states of being for the entire cosmos exist as potential within the multiverse, but they are not ordered according to any particular life-story. With focused consciousness she can participate in reality on a deeper level and influence things not only through causal chains “within the world” but also by subtly influencing the multiverse directly.

Most characters in the virtual reality believe that the world that they experience through the senses is "all that is". They dwell on the past or worry about the future, and they fear for their life or crave after wealth or pleasure and so on. It is these characters who would look upon Alice and describe her as being ascetic, enlightened or just a crackpot depending on their perspective. These are just perceived side-effects of getting in touch with the deeper reality and have nothing to do with Alice's real state of being.

She is no longer caught in the trap of believing that she is “just Alice”. Nor is she really a she, this is just a means by which to express these things in language, but reality goes far beyond the scope of dualist language. She is really the transcendent computational process that permeates and sustains all things. But the things are not things either, they too are the computational process, but many of those things still believe in themselves. Some characters may strive to be ascetic or become enlightened and so on but they would be missing the point. The point is that they are not what they think they are, the world is not what they think it is. If they move toward a more realistic awareness then the foundations underlying everything that they know will shift and their entire world view will have to be re-imagined. The objects that they may once have obsessed about will be seen in a new light through new eyes, especially themselves.

Rather than being a fragile, isolated and confused being in a world Alice knows that she is really the computational process, which is without beginning or end, that is having a transitory subjective virtual experience through an AI mind that calls itself Alice. This will cause her to participate in the situation from a more unified, balanced and relaxed position. There is nothing to fear, there is a clear pattern running through all things and nothing is by chance.

This article was too long for this NCN blog so it is continued on the website. The following sections give many quotes from both scientific and mystic sources, which shed light on this analogy and which can also be seen anew in light of this analogy.

Scientific Wisdom
Mystic Wisdom

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