The world is a hard drive (sort of)

[jmstewartfl]

Before I retired I worked with computers. Not programming, mind you, but troubleshooting desktops (when there still were desktops); operating system installs, software issues, and hardware. I came of age in the day when hard drives were a novelty (mid-1980's). Somewhere along the way I came to an interesting awareness of how a computer operates in terms of the millions (now billions probably) of ones and zeroes sitting in (then) its hard drive and (now) always-on memory and solid-state drives.

Very simply, what we call ones and zeroes are just electrical voltages; I'm not an engineer but I know one specific voltage represents "on" or "one" and another "off" or "zero". Let's use the example of a photo. Composed of millions of bits of data, that data only makes sense when it is interpreted by a specific program, on your computer or cell phone. If you tried to "play" that photo data using your music app it would not make any sense and sound like just a lot of noise. This example applies to everything in the binary data world. Binary information which is a photo for one program/app might be music (or a movie, or your phone contacts, or anything else, you get my point) depending on not only how the data is structured but on how any one program reads that same data.

Now it gets weird. Let's imagine that what we call "reality" is also a conglomeration of a virtually infinite amount of data. This would include light, sound, physical structures, heat, chemistry, and so on. As far as my theory has held so far, everything in our "reality" (including at the sub-atomic level) can be simplified to be understood as essentially energy. It's pretty well accepted now in physics nowadays that matter itself is not actually solid, as if one probes deep enough into atomic and then sub-atomic structure there is nothing there existing.

So, for simplicity's sake let's say everything in existence is electro-magnetic in nature, that is made of waves of light (in our visible range) or radio frequencies, or heat, etc. How electro-magnetic energy is perceived depends to a large extent on the observer. Meaning we "see" "colors" only because certain cells in our eyes and brains have developed to create the experience of sight. Bees can see ultraviolet light, bats can navigate in pitch black, dolphins have a kind of natural sonar, and so on.

But wait, there's more! (as the T.V. pitchman used to say). So far this idea can be understood fairly clearly on a "physical" level. But it also applies to social reality. By this I mean the socially-constructed realities we live within every day but are somewhat unaware of, as the goldfish is unaware he/she is living in water. These social realities (which are completely man-made and essentially arbitrary) include institutions such as governments, laws, mores and customs (not necessarily written formally in law which I find interesting), ideas like property rights, marriage, money (90% of our "money" is digital, by the way), language, etc.

We live in "system" we call "capitalism" or more broadly, "the economy". This reality is predicated on social constructs mentioned in the prior paragraph (money, credit, property, contracts, etc.). This seems rather arbitrary as we can (and countries do this all the time) change to "socialism" or anything else. This begs the question, then it seems there might be a "higher" reality than the existing one we live in (like the goldfish in her bowl oblivious to the outside world).

The answer is "Yes!". But I'll save that discussion for another post.

[Avolith]

As far as I understand it, there is no such thing as a higher reality, just the challenge of understanding reality's nature

The analogy of the ones and zeros having no meaning until interpreted being analogous to our reality holds some merit, because our perception depends on our brain doing interpretations. But this is all reasoning from a dualistic perspective, and ultimately there is no difference between interpreter and what is interpreted. What this really means is still mostly a mystery to me though. David's book may be interesting to read.

[Santiago Odo]

JmStewart has offered a picture of a sort-of metaphysical view of *the world*.

Understood this way, his vision takes shape in one observer who develops a mental picture of the world from 'above' it.

His view of complex natural phenomena is only semi-metaphysical since it seems to be just an observation about physical and material epi-phenomena in 'the doings of men'. That is, a given mind within Nature -- in this case human -- that raises itself to look around.

In raising himself, he speculates that any system, or set of agreements, between human beings must be and can only be part-and-parcel of a natural system. And that those who live in those systems, like the goldfish, do not rise up to think about their circumstances:

...as the goldfish is unaware he/she is living in water. These social realities (which are completely man-made and essentially arbitrary) include institutions such as governments, laws, mores and customs (not necessarily written formally in law which I find interesting), ideas like property rights, marriage, money (90% of our "money" is digital, by the way), language, etc.

And he speculates that, indeed, these may be -- are -- arbitrary and relative.

Yet further:

This begs the question, then it seems there might be a "higher" reality than the existing one we live in (like the goldfish in her bowl oblivious to the outside world).

Just as the 'natural man', within phenomena, 'raises his head' to see and speculate about his world, so the metaphysical mind raises itself to speculate about 'other dimensions' of a higher (and a lower) sort.

But he could mean 'a different reality' only in some other locale (another planet for example), but that would not really be a 'higher reality' just a different one in a larger, still material framework.

But if the question is taken to mean, say, another supra-physical world, or even 'a world of ideas', or an 'angelical' world of non-material entity which is a relatively recent understanding particular to the Mediaeval era, then speculation moves into a realm impossible of concrete solution.

It becomes a metaphysical question more properly understood.