7: Bill Reel - Truth, The Nature of Reality, Idealism, Consciousness, and Quantum Physics (Part 1)

Bill Reel and I discuss the fractal nature of reality, and how we speak in myths and constructs. We talk about how to define truth, and how science and spirituality interpret truth. Then we explore how to define consciousness and whether science supports idealism or materialism. We discuss Donald Hoffman and Bernardo Kastrup's theories of reality, and how dreams, dissociative identity disorder, Tibetan Buddhism, and quantum physics serve as frameworks for understanding reality. We touch a little on altered states of consciousness, entheogens, and how esoteric traditions like the Eleusinian Mysteries overlap with Mormonism, but we'll dive more into those topics when Bill and I have a chance to meet up again.

Links:

Bill Reel and Mormon Discussions Podcast - https://open.spotify.com/show/0lEZJF0ZH6ccoteUP9Z4Fu?si=5777d26b633c4501

Lex Fridman and Donald Hoffman - https://youtu.be/reYdQYZ9Rj4

ZDoggMD and Bernardo Kastrup - https://youtu.be/BZWp0bnMBbM

New to the podcast? Make sure you watch Episode 2 or read it in on the Substack for the integrative narrative of Mormon origins:

https://youtu.be/5YBeMrR1seM

https://open.substack.com/pub/mormonsmysticsandmuons/p/mormonism-psychedelics-quantum-physics

Please rate, share, and get in touch at [email protected]!

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:57 Mormonism's Growing Schism

06:56 Mormonism has Lost Touch with its Esoteric Roots

10:08 Mormonism as a Case Study for the Hypothesis of Psychedelics' Role in Religion

19:54 Mormonism's Parallels to the Eleusinian Mysteries

23:18 Mormonism's Overlap with Other Esoteric Traditions

24:32 Folk Magic

27:20 Eleusinian Mysteries

28:45 Zionitic Brotherhood in the Ephrata Cloister

30:20 Bill's Experience with Ayahuasca

33:15 High Strangeness

37:03 The Dangers of Poorly Integrated Experiences in Altered States of Consciousness

38:44 Validating Metaphysical Experiences of Others Doesn't Require Agreeing with Their Intepretation

41:31 The Nature of Reality

48:18 Myths and Constructs

52:06 Photogrammetry as a Metaphor for Understanding Reality

53:29 Defining Truth and Knowledge

58:41 Religion's Problem of Authority

59:52 Meaning-Making

01:03:07 Monism

01:06:42 If You Could High to Kolob

01:09:46 Idealism vs Materialism

01:14:21 Scientists Telling Us Reality is Weirder than We Could Imagine

01:15:42 We Are the Universe

01:19:10 Reality is about Perspective

01:22:52 Bernardo Kastrup, Idealism, and Dissociation

01:28:42 The Fractal Nature of Consciousness

01:31:11 Dreams as a Model to Understand Reality

01:35:55 Dissociative Identity Disorder as a Model for Understanding Reality

01:42:48 Shared Consciousness

01:44:22 Lucid Dreaming

01:47:44 Do We Create Reality?

01:50:55 Idealism's Implications for Evil, Morality, and Meaning

01:55:18 The Paradox of Free Will

01:59:33 Situationism vs Dispositionism

02:02:25 Idealism Resolves so many Unsolvable Issues in Materialism

02:06:59 The Seeming Bizarreness of Quantum Physics

02:17:45 Evaluating Reality and Mormonism with the Possibilities Idealism makes Possible

02:20:12 The Rules of Reality and the Implications of Intention and Collective Consciousness

02:26:37 New Perspectives on how much Joseph Smith Believed

02:30:15 Conclusion