We all know we see things differently – that’s a big part of why we have arguments. If everyone saw the same thing and understood it in exactly the same way there would be much less to argue about. We argue because we are convinced that there is one version of reality out there, and we simply need to explain ourselves better for the other person to come to their senses and see the universe correctly – by which mean the way we see it.
What if we actually saw different realities? What if our observation and perception is actually defining and creating the universe we see?
That’s exactly what quantum physics says is going on. Even though quantum theory is over a hundred years old, the implications of the theory are so staggering that few physicists are able to really approach these ideas openly. One of the early contributors to quantum theory, Niels Bohr, once said that if someone thinks they understand quantum physics, they really don’t get it – because you can’t understand it. Other physicists think that physical laws actually do change according to beliefs in collective conscious – that the world we see is a product of a cultural habit of seeing the world in a certain way. This theory is borne out by the observation that people in heightened or altered states of consciousness are able to “bend” the laws of physics – it’s as if the world is responding to their world view instead of the world view of the surrounding culture.
What does this imply for health and healing? How much do our collective ideas about what conditions and diseases are hard influence whether or not people get better or not? Before the discovery of the bacterium that causes tuberculosis, its cause was a mystery. For a long time people were believed to be cursed and that they could be healed by a touch from a royal, such as the king. And the death rate from tuberculosis was shocking. Once the bacterium was identified, the death rate went down dramatically, decades before there were any antibiotics available. People saw the disease differently and it lost its mysterious power.
I’ll talk about the idea of perception actually creating reality and how that relates to Accunect during the next Accunect Community Call – Thursday March 7th at 4pm London time. If you haven’t signed up for the call you can do so here.