Strictly speaking, it is not our perspective that is creating reality but our identity.
— Robert Fuchs
A reset on perspective
The notion that our identity creates our reality may be something new for you to consider. It sure was for me.
But if you stick with me here a little bit further, I believe you will come to this new understanding as well if you haven’t already. The implications of grasping this understanding could be quite substantial in how we go about our daily lives and seek to create change.
This past June, I published a newsletter on the power of our perspective to create our reality. In The Power of a New Perspective, I made the following assertion:
“Our current perspective is creating our reality. Until we make an effort to take a different perspective, not much is going to change.”
Fortunately, there are people like Robert Fuchs who subscribe to my newsletter. Robert is the founder of the HappinessGroup, a cultural consultancy, and a consciousness researcher.
Robert’s work is renowned for integrating the latest research from topological psychology and neuroscience for sustainable decision-making and problem-solving.
When Robert read my newsletter, he emailed me this response:
Hi Bill,
Great topic, but I am sorry. Your statement in the post is wrong. Correlation does not imply casualty.
Strictly speaking, it is not our perspective that is creating reality but our identity. Perspective is simply a perception angle of a finite static 2-dimensional space from a reference point. But it is identity that creates the dynamic 3-dimensional sphere from which perspective takes 2-dimensional snapshots. So you tell me what creates reality?
Just because I can look from a certain “reference point” (perspective) does not mean that my looking creates real, physical objects. If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is listening, does it make a sound?
I also think you are trying to answer a question that is not very helpful to apply practically. To make this statement applicable to daily life, the important question is not “if” perspective change is useful. Everyone would agree. But “under which conditions” perspective change is possible in the first place, and how many subjective perspectives are there maximally for objective reality?
Yes, our reality looks locally two-dimensional and flat, but it is actually wrapped around a sphere to make it three-dimensional non-locally. When we open our eyes, we see a 2-dimensional image that is projected onto our spherical eyeballs. The mathematical nature of consciousness utilizes a (Möbius-) transformation, which gives the flat image 3-dimensional depth.
To make matters even more complex, you assume “free will” to change perspectives. However, whether we can change our perspective depends on the phase state of our consciousness (relaxed, tense, fixed, or injured), which depends on the spacetime orientation of our identity. Changing perspectives is easier said than done.
Cheers,
Robert
With Robert’s permission, included below is my email to Robert and his in-line comments to my responses.
I think you will find Robert’s responses fascinating and thought-provoking.
Please note: Some of Robert’s responses are a bit comprehensive, but I decided to include them here in their entirety for completeness. I have invited Robert to attend our first monthly online meeting on November 4, 2021, to discuss this topic further and answer any questions. You’ll find more on the event and how to sign up below.
Email and response
Bill: Hi Robert, Thanks for sharing your thinking on my post. The purpose of this post is to encourage people to take a more reflective higher perspective. I’m sharing what I experienced from flying as I started to look at the world and my circumstances differently. This experience began to change my thinking and change my reality.
Robert: I would still argue that you first changed your “identity.” You switched to your pilot identity and were able to fly like a change from “chicken” to “eagle.” As a result of this changed orientation angle of your identity, your perception, and therefore your experience changed (e.g., your event horizon became bigger and curved at infinity when you looked at the far distance).
Bill: While it may not be exactly correct to say that perspective creates my reality precisely and entirely on a scientific basis, this is in effect what happened and what I experienced.
Robert: It was what you experienced and how you interpreted this experience, but not necessarily what happened. Remember that ~95% of our internal processes happen unconsciously. (See Perception is Not Reality.)
Bill: On this basis, I can stand entirely behind my statement. I think it’s an appropriate and valid statement to make for a general business audience.
Robert: Sure, most people would not even notice the difference. As long as you are aware of the nuances, there is no problem. On a subjective macroscopic scale of your “flight experience,” perception creates reality, but on an objective microscopic scale, identity creates reality.
Bill: The idea that our identity creates our reality is a whole new notion to me. What comes to mind in this area are Bohm’s statements that thought creates our reality.
Robert: Yes, Bohm’s statement describes the transformation process from information to energy and finally matter across different scales. This is nicely illustrated in the Escher image, where thoughts create matter and matter creates thoughts.
But, we also need Bohm’s hidden variables to construct the whole objective reality. In effect, we contemplate ourselves into existence through interaction with nature. A weird concept, I know, but “Cognitive theoretic Model of the Universe (CTMU) describes this process much better than I can.
Our thoughts, feelings, and actions are the tools to shape our reality construct, the plane or worldview we move on. But it is our identity, or “who we think we are”, that determines our perspective and therefore what we see.
Bill: The concept of a rectangular grid was intended to show that we see a much bigger picture from above. I depicted it as a rectangular shape because that was a shape I could create, and I had no clue that a circular shape would be more appropriate!
Robert: Yes, the square or linear matrix is easiest to work with and usually good enough to depict subjective linear reality. Suppose you want to know more about objective reality. In that case, it’s necessary to wrap it around a “Riemann sphere,” particularly if you want to understand the “holographic principle” and why reality changes when we discover new aspects of our identity. Space beyond boundaries is exactly the Riemann Sphere. Bound space is bound by the rectangular edges of the complex plane. The Riemann Sphere has a point in infinity, which is beyond boundaries. The sphere has no beginning and no end, hence no boundaries.
Bill: I’d love to learn more about the points you raised, so I can change my reality and share a new story and a new design from what I learned!
Robert: Sure. Information flows through our identity like light through a prism. It is then projected onto a sphere. Depending on the density and purity of the “quasicrystal,” the light is distorted (bent), leading to misunderstandings and false assumptions. Therefore, gaps and contradictions in the reality construct (sphere) indicate impurities (dysfunctions) in the crystal.
The cool thing about your “flying metaphor” is that it resembles physical realities. Nature is “dihedral,” humans are polyhedral. The dihedral angle of the wings of a plane determines its stability in turbulences.
For example, it was recently discovered that the bumps on the wings of a humpback whale cause vortexes that reduce drag, cause uplift, and save 30% energy. We will very soon see planes with similarly shaped wings. In addition, we will see wings that can change their shape and angle to improve aerodynamics between take-off and landing and flight.
So the question for leadership becomes, how to train people to use their wings properly. We just think we are chickens (perspective), but our identity is born to fly. Of course, keeping in mind what happened to Icarus.
This idea relates to mindset orientation or the saying: “Attitude determines altitude.” The dihedral angle resembles “attitude” For example, if our non-local/infinite orientation is toward truth and beauty (abundance, as opposed to scarcity), it is locally transformed into an attitude of “love and peace.” If your flying experience creates love in thinking and peace in feeling, you have the optimal “dihedral angle” for riding on the flow of happiness. Happiness is simply the natural product of love and peace.
Join the discussion on November 4, 2021
Robert and I had a follow-up conversation on this topic, and the discussion was riveting.
I learned many more fascinating insights on perspective and how we can bring the power of perspective to our everyday lives and work.
As a result, I invited Robert to speak on this topic at our first monthly online meetup.
Our first meeting will occur on Thursday, November 4, 2021.
If you’d like to join us, please fill out the survey to let me know your preferences, and I will add you to the meeting invitation.
As always, I welcome and look forward to your feedback. Please reply to this email or email me directly at bill@billfox.co.
To your forward-thinking life & success!
— Bill
Bill Fox, Author, and Founder at Space Beyond Boundaries and Forward Thinking Workplaces.
“Our thoughts, feelings and actions are the tools to shape our reality construct, the plane or worldview we move on. But it is our identity, or “who we think we are”, that determines our perspective and therefore what we see.”
Robert Fuchs
