Epistemology
Humans have survived through knowledge gained through senses. We have a sense of reality. In our minds, we imagine reality to be something consistent with our sense of it. This works pretty well until it doesn't. Exactly how our minds connect with reality remains a topic of strong disagreements. The paradigm in which I matured into adulthood was typical of Western academia. That is, consciousness is an epiphenomenon of the activity in the brain, which exists to propagate the species. It seemed perfectly reasonable, even if the electrochemical activity was far from understood. For the purpose of explaining the foundations of my thinking, I will try to relate an experience that I had with a friend, Bruce, whom I believed could benefit from what I considered to be my scientifically informed understanding of what was real. This happened in 1980, if memory serves. My friend had what I believed were some obvious mental and emotional problems....