Relative Reality

Qualia—the subjective, felt qualities of experience—are argued to be non-physical entities. Building on the historical development of non-Euclidean geometry, the paper defines what it means to be non-physical and uses a postulate about awareness to prove that qualia are non-physical and that thoughts are a type of qualia. A concept of relative reality is introduced, where perceptions depend on the observer and time, and is modeled mathematically using Hilbert space theory. The model yields the Schrödinger equation and shows that eigenstates exist for classical energy-conserving systems, illustrated with the G. P. Thomson experiment and the classical harmonic oscillator. A postulate about a qualia force is proposed as a fundamental part of absolute reality, akin to the four fundamental forces.

Study at a glance

Abstract

The ``Hard Problem" of consciousness refers to a long-standing enigma about how qualia emerge from physical processes in the brain. Building on insights from the development of non-Euclidean geometry, this paper seeks to present a structured and logically coherent theory of qualia to address this problem. The proposed theory starts with a definition on what it means for an entity to be non-physical. A postulate about awareness is posed and utilized to rigorously prove that qualia are non-physical and thoughts are qualia. Then the paper introduces a key concept: relative reality, meaning that perceptions of reality are relative to the observer and time. The concept is analyzed through a mathematical model grounded in Hilbert space theory. The model also sheds new light on cognitive science and physics. In particular, the Schr\"{o}dinger equation can be derived easily through this model. Moreover, this model shows that eigenstates also exist for classical energy-conserving systems. Analyses on the G. P. Thomson experiment and the classical harmonic oscillator are made to illustrate this finding. The insight gained sheds new light on the Bohr-Einstein debate concerning the interpretation of quantum mechanics. At last, the paper proposes a postulate about qualia force and demonstrates that it constitutes a fundamental part of absolute reality, much like the four fundamental forces in nature.