What if we don't all share the same physical world? What if each person's physical reality is not the same as anyone else's?
In my recent IMEC presentation, Science of the Mandela Effect, I included a slide with a quote by Bernardo Kastrup that caught Conscious Life News editor Ross Pittman's attention:
“One of the weirdest theoretical implications of quantum mechanics is that different observers can give different—though equally valid—accounts of the same sequence of events. As highlighted by physicist Carlo Rovelli in his relational quantum mechanics (RQM), this means that there should be no absolute, observer-independent physical quantities. All physical quantities—the whole physical universe—must be relative to the observer. The notion that we all share the same physical environment must, therefore, be an illusion.”
Ross mentioned that this idea matches up with other things he's learned, such as where it fits in as being part of Vedanta, where the idea is presented that we are each dreaming our own unique/individual reality. Ross also shared this quote from Bashar,
“Even though you may think, as we have said, that you are ALL sharing one particular reality, you are not. You are creating your own version, your own simulation through agreements, telepathically connected agreements with each other, to create what appears to be the same reality. But each of you is creating your own.”
Importance of the Role of the Observer
What if everything–absolutely EVERYthing–is relative to the observer? We see evidence that this is likely the case from experiments in quantum physics, such as the double slit experiment.
We can also see this idea shining through with brilliant illumination in the Mandela Effect and reality shifts–almost as if the Cosmos / God / Creator longs for us to notice this essential detail. One thing that seems especially significant about the Mandela Effect is the way this phenomenon works. People don't all notice the same changes, nor do they notice changes at the same time. One person might notice several weeks, months, or years a particular Mandela Effect before someone else does.
I can almost sense these hints each time something is definitely quite different than it used to be, like gentle nudges, “Do you get it yet?” It's dazzlingly amazing to witness these entangled interwoven dynamically shifting realities inviting each and every one of us to more fully envision who we'd be and what we'd be doing differently if we fully grasped these ideas.
In my book, Reality Shifts, I describe reality shifts I've experienced that seemed to have occurred for no apparent reason, reality shifts I noticed corresponding to wishes or prayers, reality shifts that resulted in healing of people and things, ways to allow reality shifts and feel inspired, lucid dreaming, lucid living, thoughtful contemplation about why and how reality shifts, and a sense of what it's like to live everyday life knowing that reality shifts. When you experience the shifting nature of reality, you may find, as I have, that life feels like a dream. Much of what we call meaningful coincidence or synchronicity could be caused by a property of our minds to send and receive time waves, selecting a reality we choose to experience.
Wigner's Friend / No Objective Reality
My favorite news story from 2019 was a report of a physics experiment that challenges objective reality. The researchers summed up the purpose and findings of their study as:
“The scientific method relies on facts, established through repeated measurements and agreed upon universally, independently of who observed them. In quantum mechanics, the objectivity of observations is not so clear, most dramatically exposed in Eugene Wigner's eponymous thought experiment where two observers can experience seemingly different realities. The question whether these realities can be reconciled in an observer-independent way has long remained inaccessible to empirical investigation, until recent no-go-theorems constructed an extended Wigner's friend scenario with four observers that allows us to put it to the test. In a state-of-the-art 6-photon experiment, we realise this extended Wigner's friend scenario, experimentally violating the associated Bell-type inequality by 5 standard deviations. If one holds fast to the assumptions of locality and free-choice, this result implies that quantum theory should be interpreted in an observer-dependent way.”
This physics experiment is one of the first and most significant studies supporting what many of us have been witnessing about reality shifts and Mandela Effects for years. To most fully appreciate the significance of the findings from this experiment, we must reconsider our assumptions of objectivity. Perhaps the biggest concept worthy of contemplation is the notion that there is not necessarily any completely shared physical reality.
Envisioning a world with no shared reality
How might we envision a physical world in which there is never any completely shared physical reality? One way to envision it is with the example of role-playing games in which some players experience completely unique variations of the game, even though some parts of the game include some shared events with other players. In these games, each choice a player makes leads to experiencing different sequences of events–and not necessarily the same sequences of events experienced by other players. Such a game would more closely match what many of us are noticing with respect to observing how, for example, some people might notice a given example of a Mandela Effect several years ago, and someone else might just be recognizing that particular difference between their memories and historical facts for the first time this month.
In a world with no guarantee of shared physical reality, you'd likely notice that events you remember are described or recalled differently by other people in your life. You might hear their reports of things you said or did that you don't remember the same way, or of events having unfolded differently than what you're certain occurred. There can be great positivity and opportunity in a reality based more on subjective, rather than objective, experience. As physicist George Weissmann and I state in our paper, The Quantum Paradigm and Challenging the Objectivity Assumption:
“Anomalous phenomena such as ESP and psychokinesis, collective consciousness, and synchronicity that are considered impossible in the context of the classical paradigm, fit naturally in, and can in turn provide evidence for the Quantum Paradigm. Spirituality and science are shown to be complementary approaches referring to the same reality, Mind, while each discipline retains its integrity.The Quantum Paradigm can be intellectually comprehended, as well as embodied: one can live in quantum reality. A good metaphor for this is ‘life as a dream': with no ‘real' objects as distinguished from experienced objects.”
Experience is “empty” of self-nature in the Buddhist sense, with everything interconnected and co-dependently arising. Experiencing the world by “embodying the Quantum Paradigm” is transformative, healing, and an antidote to alienation resulting from embodying the classical paradigm.
Embodying the Quantum Paradigm and living in the Oneness of all creation can help humanity—increasingly lost in the materialism and individualism reinforced by our embodiment of the classical paradigm—and restore intimate connection and harmony with Spirit, Nature and fellow humans; we need such a transformation to survive and thrive in our technological society.”
One way to help ensure that you explore more enjoyable possible realities is to engage in this participatory universe by remembering the power of the questions you ask with focused thought and charged emotional feeling. There can be advantage in asking questions you truly wish to live the answers to, such as, “How good can it get?” Just adding these five words to whatever you're contemplating can be enough to invite more positivity into your experiences in the world.
REFERENCES:
Kastrup, Bernardo. “The Universe as Cosmic Dashboard: Relational Quantum Mechanics Suggests Physics Might be a Science of Perceptions, Not Observer-Independent Reality.” Scientific American. 24 May 2019. https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/the-universe-as-cosmic-dashboard/
You can watch the companion video to this blog here:
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Cynthia Sue Larson is the best-selling author of six books, including Quantum Jumps. Cynthia has a degree in physics from UC Berkeley, an MBA degree, a Doctor of Divinity, and a second degree black belt in Kuk Sool Won. Cynthia is the founder of RealityShifters, and first President of the International Mandela Effect Conference. Cynthia hosts “Living the Quantum Dream” on the DreamVisions7 radio network, and has been featured in numerous shows including Gaia, the History Channel, Coast to Coast AM, One World with Deepak Chopra, and BBC. Cynthia reminds us to ask in every situation, “How good can it get?” Subscribe to her free monthly ezine at:
