Our Book

 

JK Rawlings created an entire universe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. Although there may be similarities, the Universe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is self-contained: The people, objects, system, religion, and conceptual frameworks–science, mathematics, philosophy– are independent and complete in themselves and require no outside help or resources. The Universe in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone has no idea that anything outside it “actually” exists in the same way that we have no idea that anything outside our Universe “actually” exists. Those who claim otherwise are charlatans, conspiracy theorists, and your garden variety nutballs. Our Universe, then, can also be described as fiction–as fantasy. Our Universe, “Us,” is a book of fiction. I say “Us” because the Universe is often interpreted as something “out there” as in “outer space.” There’s no “out there.” There’s only “in here” with you, me, planets, suns, galaxies, space, time, black holes, aliens, et. al., and a plethora of things, perhaps an infinite number of things, we are not yet aware of.

I suspect your first response is “Bullshit! Two plus two equals four is fact, not fiction” and “I’m here in the flesh.”

Who decided that? Where did two plus two equal four come from? It came from humans who developed language, counting systems and later formal mathematical systems to describe quantities. Problem is, humans and systems are both in Our Book and there’s nothing outside the book to confirm that two plus two equals four or that you exist. That can only be confirmed “subjectively” in Our Book which is a closed epistemic (to know or understand) system: When all justification comes from within the same framework, it’s like saying “I exist because I said I exist” or “I exist because my friend Bob said I exist.” These are examples of “dogmatism”: The rigid, arrogant assertion of opinions as absolute, unquestionable truths, often disregarding evidence or opposing viewpoints. It represents a closed-minded, stubborn, and inflexible mindset that resists change. Common in religious, political, or scientific contexts, this attitude stems from a desire for “certainty” but often leads to conflict, polarization, and poor decision-making. The only “certainty” is that there is no certainty. The only “absolute” is that there is no absolute.

In fact, quantum physics bears that out experimentally: There are limits to what can be known simultaneously; outcomes are probabilistic, not guaranteed; reality is not fully definite before measurement; and certainty exists only in probabilities — not in individual events. But there’s a problem with what quantum physics tells us. It’s a great paradox: Humans invented quantum physics in Our Book in the same way that we invented two plus two equals four, which, according to quantum physics, outcomes like “four” are not guaranteed–in Our Book.

Our Book is not unlike Plato’s Cave where prisoners are chained inside a cave and can only see their shadows cast on a wall from a fire built in front of the cave. They believe the shadows are reality. If one of the prisoners escapes, they’ll see the real world and realize all the shadows on the wall were illusions.

“Okay. I get it. Our Book is fiction and reality is an illusion but so what? We have to live in it.”

Yes, we do, like fish who never know their swimming in enclosed water (e.g. oceans, lakes, streams, ponds, aquariums). However, knowing that reality is subjective and illusory can keep those of us who are willing to look askance and question status quo from drifting into dogmatism. And there are a few who will never lose their childlike wonder, their obsessions and passions, or trade their social awkwardness for “normal” to give us glimpses of Truth and Beauty. You may have heard of them. They are visual, literary, architectural, and performing artists; inventors, entrepreneurs, philosophers, and theoretical physicists and, although generally maligned because they can be really weird, they pretty much drive civilization forward–in Our Book.