Imperfect Reality

This week’s Sandbox Zero topic on Personal Resilience

Where do we draw our own lines?

Personal Reality

What if the sheer value of our belief in being able to change the world around us was quantifiable? In the world of A Certain Magical Index, Personal Reality is a term for explaining the power levels of the characters with just that.

The concept of Personal Reality is related to quantum theory. It enables its user to ignore the Uncertainty Principle, and with regards to the Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment, will allow them to interfere with and distort the microscopic world using different laws. This is so the user can control their microscopic observations of the world​​​​ and actualize the possibility of their choosing. This is in contrast with holism, which is based on major changes in the whole “system”, the macroscopic world, to create a microscopic effect, which is in this case, their powers.

The acquisition of a Personal Reality is described by some ​​​​​​as being “cut off from proper reality and achieving one that differs from ours” Others described it as delusions, preconceptions, or the ability to believe. Assuming this is so, one’s esper powers will grow if they strongly believe they will.

Pseudo-science aside, there is one key takeaway from this: by eliminating uncertainty, both self-imposed or otherwise, what kind of microscopic changes can we create in the world around us? If we can continually make the microscopic changes consistently and with confidence, how long will it take until we create a macro-level event?

“We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

The Other Self

Today I want to start that new diet. Today I want to go to the gym. But I can’t see tomorrow, so today just doesn’t seem like it will matter.

Getting rid of old habits is hard. Real hard. It’s no wonder New Year’s Resolutions are almost treated as a joke: what makes the beginning of a new year the right moment for change? Time is abstract, so wouldn’t it make more sense to start sooner than a specific arbitrary date?

Oh, but you know, I have to do this thing and that other things is coming up too, so…

Personal resiliency is huge here. If you have a goal you are driving towards, you don’t wait for the right moment to pursue it because the right here and now is the only moment you will have to do it. Especially if you can visualize the outcome you want to realize in the world.

But life is complicated, we make it so. The history of our past selves can drag down and anchor us into yesterday, and working through that trauma is never easy. Something in that line of thinking got me thinking about experience in VR, where you could bring your past self, but it also seems counterintuitive to do so. In a new world where you can be anyone, why not be someone else entirely? Someone confident? Someone in control? Someone who can change the microscopic virtual world around them, and create their own Personal Reality?

But for those of us still trapped(*) in physical reality, there is an interesting alternative. I was forwarded an article about inspiring people who were able to achieve their goals with just that: creating a new reality for themselves through a different identity. An interesting read to say the least, and that begs a myriad of new questions with my favorite being this: if your persona eventually takes over your life because of the personal reality they achieved… is the new you still the real you?

Imperfect Reality

“You are in danger of living a life so comfortable and soft that you will die without ever realizing your true potential.” - David Goggins

Knowing what we can believe in, what we can possibly achieve, and who can possible achieve it, it begs the biggest questions of all: why hasn’t it happened yet? It’s because of our Imperfect Reality.

Imperfect Reality stems from the idea of being able to change the things you dislike about yourself or the world around is what shifts it from imperfect to perfect (or the choice to do nothing leaving it imperfect), but since perfection and utopias are unique definitions per person, this is a breeding ground for where reality starts and dreams end.

7 Mentally Tough People on the Tactics They Use to Build Resilience

The article linked above is about the mental toughness of seven stellar individuals, and now I am left with several new questions:

• Why can’t I be a little more them in every regard?
• What are the mental barriers I allow to languish, both purposefully and subconsciously?

All meaningful questions promote if not demand reflecting internal and coming back with three questions:

• Where are you now?
• Where do you want to go?
• What is stopping you from getting there?