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