AUTHOR=Edelman Shimon 

TITLE=Regarding Reality: Some Consequences of Two Incapacities

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=volume 2 - 2011

YEAR=2011

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00044

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2011.00044

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=By what empirical means can a person determine whether he or she is
presently awake or dreaming? Subjecting the experienced reality to a
statistical test for bizarreness requires a set of baseline
measurements. In a dream or in a simulation, those would be vulnerable
to tampering by the same processes that give rise to the experienced
reality, making the outcome of a reality test impossible to trust.
Moreover, cryptographic defenses against tampering cannot be relied
upon, because of the potentially unlimited reach of reality
modification, which may range from the integrity of the verification
keys to the declared outcome of the entire process.

Although the rational course of action in the face of this double
predicament is to take reality at face value, even the most revealing
insight that a person may gain into the ultimate nature of reality
(for instance, by attaining enlightenment) is ultimately unreliable,
for the reasons just mentioned. However, to adhere to this principle,
one has to be aware of it, which may not be possible in various states
of altered cognitive function (e.g., dreaming). Thus, a subjectively
enlightened person may still lack the one truly important piece of the
puzzle concerning his or her existence.