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About this website
This website is about trying to understand reality to the extent we are capable of learning about ourselves
and the rest of our universe. It is based on the assumption that the most realistic reality available to
people is the reality based on all relevant evidence and sound reasoning about the evidence. The website
is divided into the following sections.
Perceivable Reality
In recent centuries the relevant evidence about reality has greatly increased, so there is less need to go
through life mistaken or confused about reality and more opportunity to create realistic interpretations of
the available evidence. Perceivable Reality is comprised of the many aspects of reality, and each aspect
includes all the realistic interpretations of the relevant evidence, as well as all the less probable
interpretations. This theoretical reality, having all these different interpretations of the evidence,
and each interpretation having an associated probability of being true indicated by the evidence, is far too
large and complex to comprehend. An approximation of the most important parts of this complex reality may be
the best reality available to us and it is discussed in the Perceivable Reality section of this website.
This reality helps people appreciate the difficulty of understanding reality, which includes three distinct
levels of reality, Ultimate Reality, Perceivable Reality, and people's perceptions of reality. The Perceivable
Reality view helps realize that many aspects of Ultimate Reality cannot now be sensed because they are too small
or too distant to detect or there is otherwise no evidence about them. For example, we lack crucial evidence
about conditions on Earth in the distant past showing how life came into existence and changed over time.
Consequently, the incomplete available evidence can be interpreted in many ways, as you know.
This website also pertains to the illusions people have that are inconsistent with perceivable reality. We are
all familiar with many illusions that harmed people in various ways. Human sacrifices to gods, and wars due to
illusions are examples. History shows that illusions can slow human
progress, and current evidence indicates that atomic weapons, or other dangerous technologies in the hands of
people with dangerous illusions could eventually cause the end of humanity. Perceivable Reality is a method for
trying to distinguish between unrealistic illusions and realistic perceptions of reality. If this method were
widely understood and provided to children eager to learn about their universe, it would help bring people
together and improve the outlook for humanity because history shows that ignorance of our environments and
ourselves generally makes life less understandable and more difficult.
Quantum Medium View (a.k.a. qm view)
The qm view section of this website, including the linked qmview.net website,
shows that science is not immune from illusions.
It shows that some very important parts of orthodox physics theory are probably wrong. It shows that
the generally accepted "law" of constant light speed, c, is very likely an illusion. Relativity theory is
predicated on this law. This is why relativity theory has strange aspects, such as having to combine units of
distance and units of time in our universe into the artificial concept of spacetime.
This section shows in detail that people are wrong who believe that relativity theory must be correct because
it agrees with the extensive body of related experimental evidence. It shows that agreement with experimental
evidence only means that a theory may be a correct representation of nature. This section shows that the
qm view is probably a much more realistic representation of nature because, in addition to agreeing with
the experimental evidence, the qm view explains logical physical causes for a wide range of phenomena that
relativity theory cannot explain, and it does not have illogical consequences such as relativity's consequence
of being able to travel back in time and change the course of history and even prevent our birth. It shows that
modern physics theory probably contains many illusions, constant light speed, c, being the most obvious.
Philosophy of Science
This leads to the philosophy of science section of this website which pertains to how science contributes to
our understanding of nature, a matter of great importance to everyone whether they realize it or not. It
pertains to a controversial academic matter concerning the meaning of scientific theories and the criteria
for judging them. Physicists tend to regard theories that are completely consistent with all experimental
evidence and other observed phenomena as "proven" and the theories can become "laws" that are believed to be
good representations of nature. But history shows that proven theories can result in fundamentally wrong
conclusions about the causes of the physical evidence. It shows that evidence can be misleading and cause
great misunderstandings of nature. Therefore, in addition to consistency with physical evidence, good
theories need to have other qualities discussed in this section.
This section also pertains to psychology and influences that inhibit better understandings of nature.
It reflects the thinking of Confucius, Socrates, Galileo, Rousseau, and others who recognized how easy it is
to be deceived about nature. In contrast, physics in the past century involved more hubris and less humility
as greater emphasis was placed on the role of experimental evidence in shaping theories and physicists'
beliefs about nature, and less emphasis was placed on reason. This modern physics environment, where theories
that agree with extensive experimental evidence become "proven," resulted in artificial, manmade realities in
the minds of many physicists and others influenced by what physics theory has to say about nature.
It became acceptable to think that if a theory's equations agree with experimental evidence then the theory
is a good representation of reality. This made physics simpler and more certain. This is what led to the concept
of spacetime and other likely misunderstandings of nature. One of the sharpest minds in 20th century physics,
Richard Feynman, reflected this scientific hubris when he famously quipped that philosophy of science is as
much use to physicists as ornithology is to birds. Hopefully this website will help people decide whether or
not good philosophy of science is essential for a realistic understanding of nature.
As you can see, the various sections of this website are closely related and have a bearing on one another.
Interacting Systems
This is another section that pertains to how nature works and how our system of mathematics can be used to
understand nature. It helps appreciate the complexity that can occur when simple systems interact.
Thinking and Beliefs
This section also contains information that is not widely known but is believed to be sound and useful.
It pertains to our consciousness, motivations, and how we form beliefs. It is based on evidence we can
all observe.
Ideas and Principles
This section contains information that can be helpful in life. The ideas and principles are mostly from
other people, and are widely recognized as being useful for guiding our thinking.
Regarding ACCURACY in this website
Most of this website deals with subjects where clear communication with the reader is essential and
where statements must be accurate and reasoning must be sound. Care has been taken to make this website
and the qm view website clear, accurate, and sound. If you find anything you think is not clear or
correct, please let me know via pfa@peterallport.com . Thank you.
Why this website may have limited appeal
The website involves thinking that differs from the ways most people are accustomed to thinking. Therefore,
the website will seem irrelevant or alien to many who will consider it wrong because it disagrees with views
they believe are correct. The perceivable reality view will seem wrong to those who have learned one of the
many popular views of reality and are certain of their particular view. The qm view may seem
too difficult to understand because the reader is unfamiliar with it or with the related math and physics.
This view is not easy to understand quickly, although it is easier than relativity theory. Considerable
effort has been made to make it both quicker and easier to understand via the qm view videos and
qmview.net website.
Presently people have little incentive to take the time necessary to understand the qm view.
This may change if more people take the time to understand this website and conclude that the views
presented are far more plausible than the alternatives, and that having realistic views is important.
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