The Mathematics of Reality

 Some contend that humans can never discover true reality because appearances can change according to how a person senses them. For example, a square tower as seen from a distance may appear round. Therefore, one can never be certain that the tower is truly square or round. But the truth happens to be that the human mind can never be conscious of anything except that which is true and real. Consciousness constructs reality.

Appearances can be confusing to consciousness, but that confusion always results from false combinations of true and real elements of reality. In that respect, appearances are similar to mathematics in that mathematical calculations can be true or false, but the numbers and signs are always true and real. Seeing a square tower as being round from a distance is like a mistake in arithmetic such as 2+3=6. The "6" is like the "roundness" of the tower, but both these elements are true and real. The real distance to the square tower causes it to appear round, but that only occurs because of a false combination of real elements, just as 2+3=6 comprises a false combination of real numbers and signs.

Whenever consciousness becomes confused in its appearances, the mind supplies a real element to the combination even though the combination happens to be false. Thus, when a straight straw appears bent in a glass of water, consciousness supplies the real element called "bent" even though this combination of real elements happens to be false. This is like a mistake in arithmetic. As a universal rule, all false combinations of appearances always comprise true and real elements in reality. But the falsity in any false combination never appears. For this reason, consciousness can claim that all the elements of true combinations and all the elements of false combinations are always true and real.

All sense objects and all thought objects as elements can only be true and real. They are all useful to intelligent consciousness to produce true and false combinations. Their usefulness makes them all real. Thought objects are always mental pictures of past experiences or of logical deductions. Because they are all useful, this means thought objects are just as real as sense objects for the same reason that a picture taken by a camera is just as real as is the camera and film.

The history of the progress of the human race towards greater knowledge consists in its discovery that false combinations of real elements can be usefully discarded, and the true combinations can be discovered to be beneficial to mankind.

All ideas are real. They cannot be false. Even combinations of ideas that have never been discovered to be true or false always comprise true and real ideas. For example, the combination called "Does God exist?" cannot be proven to be true or false. The "does" and the "exist" and the "question mark" can only be true and real, but the concept of "God" happens to be either a true or a false combination of real ideas such as "love," "truth," "justice," "compassion," and many others. If these true and real ideas compose a true and real combination, then God is real. But if these true and real ideas compose a false combination, then God does not exist. Only faith can supply the answer. Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17 (KJB).