Filters Summary (1)

Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality contends that the failure of contemporary scientific theory to explain consciousness anomalies, points to its non-comprehension of the process of information exchange happening between the conscious mind and its ultimate source. As many have pointed out, there exist psychological filters alongside the filters of sensory perception, and both are instrumental in shaping the conscious experience happening in the mind. What me must be sensitive to, in light of the PEAR research, is the value of the subjective qualities of consciousness—not just our perceptions and beliefs, but also our feelings. We know that feelings are directly connected to a person's influence on the objective, physical world; therefore we must elevate the status of subjective feeling to the level of sensory perception and psychological climate, if our picture of the mind is to be more complete.

In the paper, PEAR allies itself with the position that there exists a much deeper and more extensive source of reality, which is largely insulated from direct human experience, representation, or even comprehension. This domain has long been contemplated by philosophers, theologians, and psychologists. This may be thought of as the realm of the "seeds" in the M5 and M* papers, but in the spirit of its history, PEAR simply calls it the "Source."

PEAR rejects the popular notion that all modes of human information processing happen entirely in the physiological brain. Instead, they regard the brain as a "neurologically localized utility that serves a much more extended 'mind.' or 'psyche,' or 'consciousness' that far transcends the brain in its capacity, range, endurance, and subtlety of operation, and that is far more sophisticated than a mere antennae for information acquisition, or a silo for its storage (1)."

In place of this popular notion of the mind as a one-way filter, PEAR proposes that the mind engages the unstructured potentiality of the Source in a ongoing, two-way dialogue. This is to say that consciousness creates its own reality through a dialogue with the Source.

This dialogue happens through channels: incoming channels and outgoing channels. Incoming channels accept and filter information from the source, by way of taste, touch, sight; technical devices or tools; feelings, intuition, ESP, and so on. These inputs, once filtered, combine to become an ongoing conscious experience. Similarly, outgoing channels allow outward information flow from consciousness to the Source. It's suggested that by these channels are people able to influence probabilistic outcomes in the REG, for example, or to be otherwise bonded to outside objects or people.

Along with these models come the implication that channels can be opened to and from the Source that were not open before, or that their filtering mechanisms can be tuned. This may be the literal equivalent of the phrase "expand your mind." This can involve famous practices such as meditation or yoga, or a careful examination of your belief systems and their source. It might even come about by interacting with the REG, as practice may improve the facility of exchange between consciousness and the Source, that manifests itself as physical effects.

PEAR has noticed 5 essential features of any filter opening or tuning strategy:

1. The acceptance of the possibility of alternative realities;
2. The generous utilization of conceptual metaphors by which to access them;
3. The achievement of resonance, in both its objective and subjective senses;
4. The tolerance of uncertainty as a sine qua non in any creative interaction between consciousness and the Source;
5. The replacement of conceptual duality by complementarity as the fundamental dynamic for the construction of reality.

The Sensors, Filters, and the Source of Reality paper is full of compelling examples and explorations arising from these basic premises. It helps make sense of much of PEAR's experimental research and findings, and helps to tie it into the "bigger picture." We recommend you read the paper in full.

(1) http://www.princeton.edu/~pear/pdfs/jse_papers/Filters%20pdf.pdf

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