To Believe: A Man’s Quest to Understand Reality

by M I A Harba

  A few days were needed for the mix to harden and become strong enough to support people's weight.

  The other remaining activities were plastering of the walls, inside and outside, and the electric wiring. The electrics and the electric wires needed to be installed before the plastering commenced. He had already arranged with an electrician to come out for this job. The electrician might spend a day or two installing the wirings, and one more day to move the solar panels to the roof.

  The electrician was a young chap but very knowledgeable. He installed the electric switches, the light bulbs, the ceiling fans, and the ac unit.

  The electrician stayed at the building site for a few days to complete his work. Sam and the rest supported him in shifting the panels to the roof, and the batteries to the utility room at the back of the house. After some testing, he declared that everything was in order, and his job was done. He went home on the next supplies run.

  The plastering covered all the wire pipes and conduits laid on the walls. The plastering was a boring job but important because it defined the looks of the walls and the building, overall.

  With the plastering completed, and everything else in the building was finished, the work came to an end. The remaining was the hauling of furniture from Rawa to make the house liveable. These were delivered by two medium-size lorries that arrived just before lunch the following day. All helped to unload them to the various rooms inside the house. All the contents of the store tent were moved into the storeroom at the back of the house, the stove and LPG bottles to the kitchen, and all the tents were struck, rolled, and placed in the storeroom.

  In a way, it was a sad sight because the site became silent and inactive. The labourers moved the concrete mixer and whatever remained of building materials on the back of one lorry, which soon became full. The labourers climbed onto the back of the other lorry and were ready on the way to Rawa.

  He was going to be on his own, but this time, for a very long time. Loneliness, in the true meaning of the word, awaited him, as no one would visit him in the next few weeks, or even months. However, he had a finished house, full of furniture, that should make him safer and more comfortable. A supply lorry would continue to visit him once a week, bringing him food and posts. It was his thin line of contact with the outside world, and he should be content with this. Wasn’t this what he wanted?

  It was difficult to say goodbye to his companions of the last few months, whom he got to know well. He imagined they might be equally sad to leave the place they called home for those months. They got used to the area and the desert atmosphere and grew to like it. He needed to strengthen his resolve, however, to endure the loneliness that awaited him.

  His project had been completed, and what remained was entirely up to him. He wanted to clear his mind and test his belief, his prime objective of moving out here. He went around and shook hands with everyone, thanked them and told them some bonuses for their good work awaited them in Rawa. He had arranged for their pay by one associate in Rawa, whom he entrusted with money for this purpose.

  There was no longer a cook to feed him. He must start catering for himself, cooking, washing the dishes, watching over his store, and the like. He had a comfortable bed to sleep in for a change, though, and strong walls and doors between him and the wild outside. Animals, insects, or unwelcome intruders were out of bound.

  The living room overlooked the desert plain, to the west of the house, where he could sit in the comfort of the confine of the house to watch the beautiful sunset. He could also pull a chair out to the patio to watch the sunset from there.

  He thought the house was a good design, small but contained all amenities one desired. The solar panels and batteries functioned as designed and proved sufficient for the fridge and freezer, and some lighting in the evening. In the summer days, he would operate his newly installed wall-unit air conditioning system. He hoped the panels could power it, at least during the daytime. In the evening, the ceiling fans should be fine, as the temperature is much lower at night in a desert environment.

  It was still winter; summer was a few months away. As a test, the electrician operated the air conditioning unit during the daytime, and it continued for at least half an hour uninterrupted. The solar panel and battery combination seemed to manage. He thought he could, if needed, install additional solar panels, to boost the power production.

  He sat down on the sofa and started writing a letter to his wife. He hadn't written or spoken to her since the start of the project. It wasn't an emotional letter as such but began to read like a report on the project. By the time he realised it was not a letter for a wife but a technical report, he tore it up and started afresh. He was far from society and had lost the emotional touch of interacting with people, his wife in particular.

  He did his best, saying he missed her and his daughter, and that he loved both immensely. His daughter was the whole world for him, and he missed playing silly tricks on her -- she made fun of him when he tried to act silly.

  The letter became more like a family letter; however, he couldn’t resist adding some paragraphs on the progress of the works and how the house turned out to be. He signed it with a few kisses to his wife and lots of kisses for his daughter. He put it in an envelope, to hand to the supply lorry driver on his next visit.

  His surroundings had become extremely quiet in the absence of the labourers. He lay down on his bed and started reading a book about UFOs, by John Keel. He had his first experience of them a few weeks ago, and they looked real, not something imagined. He could be wrong, though. Loneliness plays tricks on the mind.

  The departure of the labourers was the real start of his intended project and the solitude he sought. He knew it might be difficult in the first few days, but he had a variety of things to do, many books to read and the whole desert plain to enjoy.

  He resolved not to go back to society, not until reality and reasons for existence became crystal clear in his mind. If there was a different reality out there, the objective reality that evolution had hidden from us, he was determined to uncover it whatever it took

  Loneliness and the Faint of Heart

  The first week of loneliness was difficult. It was a struggle keeping himself busy during those long hours of seclusion. He had a taste of this during the weeklong holiday of the labourers, but that was in the knowledge they were coming back within a week. Now, his seclusion was for real, catering for himself, doing his own chores, and generally looking after himself, for the foreseeable future. It wasn't easy.

  He had time, though, to ponder over the matter of reality and existence. He was convinced what he saw and felt was not be the objective reality. It was what consciousness, through evolution, made us see and feel.

  We live in a 3D world and we see everything in three dimensions. Einstein postulated a 4D spacetime paradigm, although we couldn’t experience it easily. We see the 3D space, feel the time go by, and that is it. What if the objective reality involves more dimensions? There is no way we can see this multidimensional reality due to the constraints of our senses. There must be other ways we could try, he thought, but what?

  All the theories he came across, need proof. They need to withstand the rigour of scientific experimentation. One cannot say this is the right theory, which he must accept. All theories are essentially conceptual essays that remain valid until another essay disproves them and provides a better answer.

  The Simulation Hypothesis looks wonderful, but there is no evidence or proof. The theory that says consciousness is fundamental sounds logical but where is the proof. Human’s knowledge appears lacking in every aspect when it comes to reality and its perception.

  What about UFOs? Are they glitches in the simulation programme? Or a manifestation of consciousness for its own purposes? Are they a link between human consciousness and universal consciousness?

  Sam was adamant to go to the bottom of this to come up with the best interpretation, an interpretation that could be tested.

&
nbsp; One researcher, who formulated a mathematical model for consciousness, reckons the spacetime we see, and feel might not be the objective reality. It was what evolution had made us see and feel. The objective reality is a total unknown.

  He argues, an apple is nothing but a 3D user interface icon for the objective reality, just like, for example, WhatsApp’s icon on a phone. Humans know the shape of the apple, know it is edible, see its inside, but can’t see beyond that. It is like an icon on a phone’s screen. We know what applet is invoked when tapping it, and what functionality it performs. How the applet is structured, how it interacts with the transistors and diodes within the phone, remains unknown to the average user. Further, the average user does not need to know these details in using the applet.

  Similarly, the apple is an icon, but in 3D, and the reality underneath it is unknown. We see the outside of the apple and understand it is edible and tastes delicious. The apple is not the real thing, but an icon nature, or evolution, has built for us to represent the real apple, very much like an icon on a phone’s screen. We don't need to see the inside or the atomic structure of the apple. The shape and looks of the apple are all we need to know what it is. And evolution has taught us to eat the apple to sustain ourselves.

  That scientist also argues that everything around us, including the spacetime postulate of Einstein, might be a user interface to the objective reality. Interestingly, through computer simulation, that same scientist conducted experiments on the survivability of conscious beings with regards to this concept of things being icons. His computer simulation found the conscious entities that saw more of reality than these user interfaces, could not survive and went extinct. It seems it is to the advantage of humans and animals that they don't see objective reality, but this user interface only.

  Another theory by other physicists stipulates that we might be living in a multidimensional space, and our 3D space is a projection of the higher dimensional space. According to this theory, the objective reality is an 8-dimensional or 8D construct, and the 3D space we live in is a projection from 8D to 3D. We could not possibly, with our normal senses, see or feel these 8 dimensions, and therefore have no way of understanding how these extra dimensions behave.

  It was like the cave scenario put forward by Plato more than 2400 years ago. He postulated, if humans were somehow shackled in a cave and could only see 2D shadows on the walls made by light at the entrance of the cave, then this is a 2D projection of our 3D reality. The light would make people appear as shadows moving on the walls of the cave. If these humans were used to seeing these shadows only, they would have no idea what the 3D world outside looked like. Everything was 2D in their eyes. If one came along and said to them, no, this was only a projection of a 3D space, they wouldn't believe it. They would have no mental ability to visualise a 3D space. They only saw 2D space and would believe everything was 2D.

  It is indeed a very interesting thought experiment, to pinpoint our inability to see objective reality if it was 8D. Many people, Sam included, find it difficult to visualise the spacetime postulate of Einstein. It's supposed to be a flexible 4D construct, but people can only see in 3D. 8D reality, therefore, has no chance of being visualised by humans.

  Sam also remembered Dr Talib’s explanation of String Theory, and how these strings are vibrating energy in a 9D construct. But that is a theoretical concept, and humans have no chance of visualising a 9D space with their natural senses.

  These multi-dimensional concepts are beyond our capabilities, Sam concluded, and the theories describing them remain theories. Our senses and the way we are built do not allow us to see further than the dimensions we see.

  Does this mean he had no chance ever of experiencing reality as it really is? If these scientists are right, and objective reality is a multi-dimensional reality, with more dimensions than what we can see, then we have no chance of ever experiencing that reality. However, humans have been able to build tools, and maybe someday in the future, they can build tools to investigate further than the 3D observed reality. Who knows?

  Some discovered tools have already made humans see beyond their normal senses. With the discovery of the X-rays, for example, we now see the internals of one’s bones and organs. We can, through an MRI scan, see inside the brain and other organs. Those couldn’t be observed from outside without the use of such tools.

  Although one theory stipulates the apple is a user interface to the objective reality, we can bite the apple, look at the inside, or, through a microscope, see the internal structure of its tissues.

  We now can see atoms through the use of the electronic microscope.

  We observe the universe using telescopes operating in the visible range, in the infrared and the ultraviolet, and the microwave. These give us information about the surface reflection, or emission, of light of these astronomical bodies. These different wavelengths of observation might also disclose to us aspects of their internal structures. However, the latter is possible only to a certain extent, and we don't know everything inside them.

  We can’t even see inside the plants that are relatively close to Earth. We can see the outside of Jupiter, for example, because this is what our senses and current tools provide us with capabilities for. But inside, it is a completely different storey. Space missions have been designed to reveal more information about the inside, by launching probes to go inside the planet. These probes are a further example of seeing more than the eyes can.

  In summary, there is hope for seeing the objective reality with tools, but what kind of tools do we need if we don't even understand the objective reality itself?

  However, Sam was out here to ponder and think. He did not have elaborate solutions or tools to investigate reality. Thinking is all he had.

  The empty space aspect of matter came back to haunt him again. Everything is empty space, but we see them because the outer surface of things reflects light. This light enters our eyes, and the brain interprets it as the objects we see. In a way, we only see skin deep of these objects.

  If everything is empty space, isn’t it possible that ghosts are built of the same atoms, but somehow, they don't reflect light on their surfaces? Light may propagate through them as it does in transparent objects, like water and glass. A ghost might be a living being, but its molecular structure does not reflect light at the outer skin. Therefore, there is no way for us to see them.

  He remembered seeing videos of ghosts on YouTube, which claimed to be real ghosts filmed in haunted houses. They appeared transparent, but their shape or outline appeared human-like. He didn't believe these ghost videos because ghosts don't need to look like humans. If ghosts exist, do they need arms and legs, heads and eyes as humans do? Probably not.

  A more likely shape of ghosts is perhaps blobs or structures that have no particular shape but are completely transparent. Further, they are seen in exceptional circumstances only, not in every day’s normal events, and often at night. Some see them, many don’t. However, was he disbelieving in ghosts of human-like shapes that have been reported over the ages? Isn’t this similar to what science does, disregards ghosts altogether? Sam thought he was falling into the same trap science had fallen in.

  Ghosts, and his new thinking, were leading him to believe that we, humans, live in a 3D space and share it with ghosts. However, they are completely transparent and unrecognisable. Some amateurish researchers tried to explain ghosts as beings from different dimensions. These researchers are often non-physicists or specialists in science and talk about dimensions as though it is something they understand. What are these extra dimensions? They provide no answers, and it is their way of saying they don’t understand what they are talking about. They seem to attribute everything to such mysterious additional dimensions.

  Sam did not want to disregard all their postulates, however, because he didn’t understand the reality of ghosts himself. They could be right, and ghosts are potentially from extra dimensions, although there's no way of knowing. He needed some
thing tangible, however, something he could put his fingers on in explaining these phenomena. His theory of ghosts, being of atomic structure similar to humans but their collection of atoms and molecules don’t reflect light, was perhaps a more plausible explanation for his tired mind at the moment.

  His portable GPS receiver, and the lessons learnt from the experience of the dreadful night with the pickup, increased his confidence in venturing out. He made sure a spade and tarp sheets were always stowed in the pickup. A sleeping bag and a blanket were placed permanently behind the seats of the pickup cabin. Dry food, biscuits and the like, and a few bottles of water were always in the pickup, in case he drove out forgetting to take some.

  And he must never forget his portable GPS receiver, in case he needed to walk back to the building site, like what happened on that dreadful night. He should also remember to record the locations of whatever he found -- he carried a little notebook for this.

  One such outing happened that very day. He drove, following the same route he took on the day he got lost. He intended to look for the site of the clay fragments, and he might stumble upon it once again. However, he knew the sand always moved in the desert and covered exposed areas or uncovered buried ones. The terrain might one day look completely different from another, particularly after storms. And a couple of storms did hit them since he found the pieces.

  He needed the exertion, as staying in his house was getting on his nerves. It was also good for the pickup, to charge its battery that, if left uncharged, might not start the pickup in an emergency.

  He drove as planned, stopping at outcrops and stony patches to investigate. He eventually stopped for a rest. He parked the pickup and sat on a rock, to gaze at the horizon that looked like a faint line separating a blue sky from a dull terrain. He could see sand mounts and rock outcrops in the distance, and if he gazed long enough, he might see shapes of camels and even humans. But, of course, he knew that was not true. What he saw the other day must be his own imagination, not a real camel train or caravan.