A brief preliminary brainstorm on the subject of open-source social operating systems (systems of governance), from the perspective of systems theory. This is just to put down a few thoughts that immediately pop into my mind in regards to this subject...  More >

Ultimately, we're not made of things but of processes; we're not objects or subjects, we are happenings.

Both subject and object are complementary aspects of an experiential process. The process is fundamental whilst the subject and object are virtual appearances.

The unified cosmic process (Brahman) has subject=God (Supreme Self) and object=quantum field (spirit world).

This unified cosmic process operates 'between' moments of existence; changing the state of NOW so that it seems that there are many successive moments.

As these moments blur together there seems to exist myriad individual experiential processes (Atman), which operate 'across' moments of existence.

This is how Atman is Brahman, depending on whether we contemplate the process as operating 'between' or 'across' moments. When 'between' it is One, whilst when operating 'across' it is many.

The individual experiential processes (Atman) have subject=Jiva (personal self) and object=Maya (phenomenal world).

In this way the unified cosmic process seemingly animates myriads of virtual processes, hence the One manifests as many. Many subjects (embodied beings) and many objects (physical universe).

But ultimately there is just one unified cosmic process, which can be known as either one subject (God / Supreme Self) or one object (quantum field / spirit world).

Anyway, that is one possible English interpretation of the mathematics that I intuitively received and have been contemplating since 2000. The maths is crystal clear and very succinct but it is hard to find words to describe it because words have so much egoic / materialist baggage attached.

Hope it makes sense to you...

BTW for much more detail see System Science of Virtual Reality.

The following is a brief overview of an information system ontology and metaphysics, i.e. those concepts, entities and processes that provide a foundation for a non-materialist, consciousness based world-view. The explanation is kind of technical because it is difficult to explain non-materialist issues in a mostly materialist language, however the understanding itself is very simple and intuitive once one shifts to a non-materialist paradigm. This explanation starts from general principles and works towards particulars.  More >

There are some who believe that only sentient beings such as humans can collapse quantum wavefunctions. IMHO this is a fallacy and it leads to a paradox, which can be resolved by developing a deeper understanding of consciousness.

The paradox is, if sentient being are required to collapse a wavefunction, then how could the classical universe exist before sentient beings evolved, and how could sentient beings evolve if the classical universe didn't yet exist? At what stage did the pure quantum potential suddenly start collapsing into particular classical actualities? How did this new ingredient "wavefunction-collapsing-sentience" arise from the pure quantum potential? There is a maze of paradoxes here...

In fact any interaction with another system will collapse the wavefunction. Any observation will do it, because whenever an observable is required by another system as part of an interaction the wavefunction must collapse to provide an observable. This approach is a natural part of an efficient simulation algorithm, which only computes the state of a virtual system when another virtual system requires an observable in order to experience and interact with it.

The sensitivity to collapse is why researchers are having so much trouble building quantum computers, they call it the "decoherence problem". In order to perform computations with wavefunctions we can't have them collapsing willy-nilly, but the slightest interaction with any aspect of the surrounding universe will collapse the wavefunction. So how can one develop a framework within which to compute with wavefunctions?

If it was only sentient beings who collapse wavefunctions then the decoherence problem would be easy to solve, just put the quantum computer in an opaque box and don't let anyone open the box until the computation has had plenty of time to complete. Then a sentient being can open the box to collapse the wavefunction and observe the final result of the computation. This is not what happens in reality.

The only way out of the quantum-sentience-paradox is to accept that not only complex systems with complex forms of awareness (such as ourselves) are involved in the collapse of the wavefunction, but even simple systems with simple forms of awareness. Hence the way out of paradox is to overcome anthropocentric concepts of consciousness and accept some form of panpsychism, such as pan-proto-experientialism.

Even a fundamental particle has its own primitive form of consciousness - nowhere near as complex and rich as ours, but it is aware nevertheless. A particle couldn't interact with other particles if it wasn't aware of their existence and their state of being. It needs to observe their state of being in order to react to them, and this observation collapses the wavefunction of the other particles.

Thanks to Tim Cumper for raising this issue and inspiring me to write this article...

• What questions can science not answer? http://qr.ae/7Xh2

• What are some taboos in science? http://qr.ae/Jzq

• What is consciousness? http://qr.ae/7FD

• What is sentience? http://qr.ae/TRw

• Hard Problem of Consciousness http://qr.ae/7nhU

• What is naive realism? http://qr.ae/0cq

• What exactly are qualia? http://qr.ae/7NA4

• What is matter? http://qr.ae/7nnn

• Does matter exist? http://qr.ae/7nta

• What is it like to be a quantum computational process? http://qr.ae/7nht

• Is the universe a simulation? http://qr.ae/TlI

• Is it possible to create a general system simulator? http://qr.ae/jab

• In simple terms, what does the Stern-Gerlach experiment imply about the nature of quantum systems and observable phenomena? http://qr.ae/7vvJ

• Now that naive realism has been disproved by quantum mechanics, how will this impact our collective paradigm? http://qr.ae/0Sr

• If society undergoes a paradigm shift to a non-naive realist paradigm, which words will retain their meaning and which will change? http://qr.ae/7nCC

• Is a photon a particle or a wave? http://qr.ae/7KBb

• What basic principles would need to be covered by a “virtuality tutorial”? http://qr.ae/72X9

• What are memes and memeplexes? http://qr.ae/7ndi

• Is the concept of a ‘person’ a social construct? http://qr.ae/7nUN

• How do you know if you are self-aware? http://qr.ae/7Ryr

• Can we have an agreed-upon definition of ‘reality’? http://qr.ae/KSb

• What is the “problem of the external world”? http://qr.ae/7vyG

• Do spirits exist in Reality? http://qr.ae/7G76

• How can you learn faster? http://qr.ae/7tA7

• What is evil? http://qr.ae/7tmW

• How have Enlightened beings lived in human society? http://qr.ae/7nyv

• What is a memetic disease and how do they operate throughout our minds and cultures? http://qr.ae/7nMq

• How is the concept of a memetic disease related to the concepts of physical, psychological and social diseases? http://qr.ae/7nEi

• What is the most endemic and destructive cultural phenomenon of all time? http://qr.ae/7tBw

• Is the phenomenon of ethnogenesis an example of memetic autopoiesis of a collective intelligence? http://qr.ae/7Ih0

• What use is the I Ching? http://qr.ae/1N8

• What does it mean to be a person with big karma? http://qr.ae/cmc What is karma?

• What does it mean that everything in the world is a teacher? http://qr.ae/0yV Sadguru - teacher within.

• What is one thing you have to believe before you can experience it? http://qr.ae/030 Experiencing oneself as a “person in a world”…

• What is the unique quality that is in the consciousness of the human beings who have attained the Supreme Enlightenment? http://qr.ae/dIU Complete absence of delusion

• What is the likelihood humans don’t have the brain power to fully comprehend the answer to why we exist? http://qr.ae/7p14

• What are system leverage points and why is it useful to know? http://qr.ae/7IF3

• Is nature self-similar across scales? If so, what is the principle in which it is self-similar? What are some examples of self-similarity? http://qr.ae/a3a

• What is one important thing that no one told you about? http://qr.ae/7RGl The universe isn’t a mechanism that one must ‘manipulate’ and that events are not just ‘accidental’ happenings - instead the universe is alive and responsive…

• What is a narrative? http://qr.ae/0OG

• What is a fractal? http://qr.ae/0gU

• Is there a meaningful relation between fractals and cellular automata? http://qr.ae/0bu

• What do the results of the PEAR GCP ICRL experiments say about consciousness and how can we scientifically explain them? http://qr.ae/v0h Consciousness itself, unaided by known physical mechanisms, can influence physical reality.” The likelihood that this is due to chance is one in a trillion (10^-12)…

• What major social problems have been solved by philanthropy in the last 50 years? http://qr.ae/7r9u

• What do you think of the many-worlds interpretation of Quantum Mechanics? http://qr.ae/7yfA

• Also “System Science of Virtual Reality” is a relevant ebook http://bit.ly/9XhElB for those who wish to explore deeper.

• Signs of an emerging Paradigm http://bit.ly/dfxL4R

• Shape of the Emerging Memeplex and How to Nurture It http://bit.ly/bWtL1e

• I Ching’s Advice on Nurturing the Emerging Memeplex http://bit.ly/cjRgrC

• The I Ching’s “Wisdom for this Phase of the Journey” http://bit.ly/cFxqD5

See the original and other answers at http://www.quora.com/Is-the-universe-a-simulation

At the bottom of this page there are also some other answers and my comments on them.

I will not attempt to answer this question here, but merely provide some links to instances where the idea has been discussed. This idea is becoming increasingly popular within the scientific debate because it provides an explanatory framework that allows us to comprehend quantum phenomena that were previously incomprehensible...

Whilst it is impossible to comprehend the quantum mechanical description of the universe in terms of 'physical' phenomena, at the same time we are finding that thinking in terms of information processes allows us to understand quantum phenomena, not as something bizarre and paradoxical, but as the natural & necessary properties of a simulated virtual reality.  More >

Let me relate to you a short story as an introduction to the real subject of this article – the mathematical / metaphysical foundations of a unified holistic science.

I was 21, working as a taxi driver and quite deeply 'absorbed' with what one might call the occult, in particular Western Esoteric (Kabbalistic) Ritual High Magick. However from surface appearances I was "just a taxi driver".

During this time somehow the thought entered my awareness that "I will descend into the swamp of modernity wherein I will find and retrieve a 'Jewel of Immeasurable Worth' that lies unnoticed."

I didn't know what it meant - but the idea grew – not just an intellectual idea, but an inspiring force. It hovered just beneath the conscious mind; floating on the 'surface' of the subconscious. Six months or so later another idea surfaced - "I will study physics and computer science at Uni next year." And I did - all up for about 5 years. ########  More >

Monica Anderson said on Facebook: “I can't figure out if the SA (simulation argument) is dualist and would like to know”

Note: That which she calls SA I have elsewhere called the VR analogy or computational metaphysics.

I have contemplated this issue of SA and dualism at some length from many angles, in particular by studying an intuitively received mathematical model (SMN) of the reality generative process and how it processes information in order to create the appearance of indivudual perspectives upon a physical universe.

In brief I have found that the term 'dualism' has a certain meaning within a particular context, however SA changes that context and thereby also the meaning of the term.

To explain, first here is a comment I made earlier in the same thread, which explains the context of our current meaning of the term.  More >

First a few words about the work and then some links.

In brief, in 2000 I intuitively received a vision of the nature of reality that re-oriented my world-view. Other than a new way of understanding, it mainly expressed itself in my mind as a form of mathematics, which I came to understand through the framework of information and system theory, mystic metaphysics, quantum mechanics and virtual reality simulation.

This evolved over time into a project that could be described as "laying down the mathematical foundations of a unified holistic science" and "using this foundation to shed light on and unify both ancient and modern wisdom". The work also involves self-enquiry; observation of, and participation in, the evolution of collective consciousness; and the navigation of a paradigm shift in our collective world-view.

To give some insight... Imagine that this physical universe could be thought of as a virtual reality simulation, within which we are evolved sentient virtual beings. It would all seem to us to be physical and in no way different from how it currently does. In this analogical context what I address is not the objects, people, places, events, sights, sounds, shapes, qualities, etc within the VR universe.

What I try to describe and model is the computational process, the logic of the simulator, the simulation process in action, the structure of the model that is animated, the low-level virtual processes and forms that arise within the VR, how these integrate and evolve into complex systems, how the behaviour of these gives rise to the principles of physics, how some of these complex systems may attain sentience and enquire into the nature of their situation, how they can most effectively achieve this, what they will find when they do and how does this whole situation relate to mystic wisdom and what it describes about reality.

What these virtual beings eventually realise is that ultimately they are not physical beings in a physical universe with individual identities, they are motions of a cosmic whole that is non-dual, non-physical, non-local, non-temporal, imperceivable, all pervading and the animating essence of all things.

Furthermore, there is a persistent cognitive habit that causes them to perceive and experience things from a dualist perspective. When this is recognised and its dominance over the mind is overcome, then reality can be apprehended clearly. Although it is not perceptible to their senses, it can be intuitively apprehended in no uncertain terms because it is the inner most essence of their being.

This underlying reality, beneath the film of appearances can be modelled mathematically and understood scientifically, thus providing a solid foundation for a unified holistic science/spirituality.

First see this memetic map of areas of interest.

Here is a general introduction, it's a bit dated but it paints an overall picture of my line of research. Here is a CV or rough chronological list of primary influences.

Here are various overview articles.

The main results so far and the main essay describing the world view implied by the results.

Here are a few brief articles...  More >

Below are extracts from the Lankavatara Sutra that are related to naïve realism, information theoretic metaphysics and self-realisation.

All that is seen in the world is devoid of effort and action because all things in the world are like a dream, or like an image miraculously projected. This is not comprehended by philosophers and the ignorant, but those who thus see things, see them truthfully. Those who see things otherwise walk in discrimination, they cling to dualism. The world as seen by discrimination is like seeing ones own image reflected in a mirror, or ones shadow, or the moon reflected in water, or an echo heard in a valley.

People grasping their own shadows of discrimination become attached to this thing and that thing and failing to abandon dualism they go on forever discriminating and thus never attain tranquillity. By tranquillity is meant Oneness, and Oneness gives birth to the highest Samadhi which is gained by entering into the realm of Noble Wisdom that is realisable only within ones inmost consciousness...  More >

The distilled essence of my input to a conversation on the forum of the Society for Scientific Exploration (SSE), which is still continuing so this will grow.

Within the latest SSE newsletter there is an article called "Signs of an Emerging Paradigm Shift", which is about naive realism. The newsletter can be read at: http://www.scientificexploration.org/explorer/explorer_22_3.pdf

The relevance of these issues for SSE is that naive realist assumptions are the foundation of the wall of denial that is maintained by established science. Thus by overcoming these assumptions that wall is falling apart. This has profoundly revolutionary consequences for the whole of civilisation, and SSE is in a prime position to be at the vanguard of the paradigm shift if it chooses to be.

Warning: This discussion explores an alternate paradigm that is radically different from the established paradigm. For many people the established paradigm is intrinsic to the familiar world that they have known most of their lives and within which their ego has found its comfortable and secure niche. So be warned that this subject matter can elicit an unconscious irrational ego defence mechanism within your mind. To keep an open mind one must exercise self-awareness and from this much can also be learnt.

Enter the discussion...

I have been very busy lately and not posting much at all so here is a quick update...

I recently wrote an article for The Explorer, which is the newsletter of the Society for Scientific Exploration. The newsletter has yet to be published but you can read the article here:
Signs of an Emerging Paradigm Shift.

I am also writing a book. It is a detailed explanation of the core principles of my work. In style, the book is somewhere between a popular science book, an introductory textbook on advanced mathematics and an introductory treatise on abstract metaphysics. Part one is complete and the last part is coming soon. You can read part one here:
System Science of Virtual Reality: Toward the Unification of Empirical and Subjective Science.

Right now I am mostly involved in a fascinating online conversation about naïve realism, its ramifications, its role in the global systemic crisis and how to overcome it for the sake of us all... If you have an interest in this subject then check out STAR for some background information.

The essay Changing How we think for the sake of all describes my input to that conversation. The comments have been arranged and edited into a single essay that expresses the vision that I am sharing in the conversation.

Before I start I will mention that this explanation has been simplified into common sense (naïve realist) language hence it doesn't accurately convey what I think but it is adequate. The points are not random but develop in sequence.  More >