This is a student-facing preface to our lecture. It keeps mythos in view while staying orthodox with the math and physics.
The Reality Equation
Reality is the conscious, felt quotient of an unconscious ratio:
Left side—Reality—is your conscious awareness. Right side is unconscious: the Actual (past, fixed and certain), the Predictor (the wavefunction), and the Ideas (bias entering the denominator).
Even a simple fraction becomes a felt texture. For example:
This number is not only arithmetic; it’s the coordinate of your awareness in the Eternal Now.
The Predictor: Always Squiggling
Following Everett, there is one universal wavefunction. Wheeler emphasizes bounded subsystems (slices defined by attention and context). Carroll shows these perspectives cohere: the subsystem is a slice of the universal .
Think of the wavefunction as a spread—neutral probability structure. Collapse happens only when life demands a number we can live through; the Predictor itself is not biased.
Where Bias Enters: Ideas
Bias enters with the imaginary component of the denominator—prejudice, preference, fear, desire. That is where Ideas push forward. They prefer specific outcomes and they want them now. They whisper (or shout) “anywhere but here,” generating anxiety, hope, and restlessness.
That’s why Ideas are the troublemakers.
Orthodox guardrail: Keep the split crisp—Reality (left) is conscious; Actual/Expectation (right) is unconscious. The Predictor is neutral probability; Ideas constitute the imaginary bias.
How the Future Handles Ideas
In our mythos, the Unknowable Future relates to all Ideas. He doesn’t resist or pick favorites. Mathematically, if idea vectors are taken together, they cancel:
That leaves a denominator with no imaginary bias:
Crucially, this is not suppression; it is relationship. Openness to all Ideas lets them cancel.
A Case Study: Fairness
Fairness presents two poles—justice and injustice—both Ideas seeking actualization. If you pick a side, those vectors align and amplify; bias grows and tension is felt. If you can hold both poles, the vectors cancel; the denominator stabilizes; tranquility emerges.
Quantifying Felt Surprise
Surprise can be read directly from the quotient. For example:
Interpreting the sign and magnitude ties felt experience to the ratio without smuggling preference into the math.
The Counterintuitive Solution
Ideas carry bias; they are the troublemakers. But the cure is not resistance. The cure is allowing relationship with all Ideas so none dominates. Then: —prediction without prejudice.
You don’t have to believe the poetry; you can see it in the math.
Pre-read for class. Bring questions on the mythos/logos split, subsystem slices of , and how idea vectors cancel in practice.