The next thing we have to discuss as we build our foundation of necessary understandings is that objective reality does exist. With the 20th Century rise of deconstruction, nihilism and postmodernism, it has become more and more acceptable for people to not only argue but actually believe that there is no objective reality and that, if there is, we cannot know anything about it. Therefore, they argue that everything about us is what we make it to be. In other words, we each make our own reality independent of the world or other people around us.
There is a simple problem with these lines of thinking: they are demonstrably false. We can prove that we exist simply by thinking. That you are reading these words not only proves you exist, it also proves I exist – not just because I had to make the words, but because I am conveying an idea. Now, if there is no objective reality, then how can I convey my ideas to you in a way that allows us both a reasonable assurance that we both have the same understanding of what I am trying to communicate? This is why these simple words are so powerful in their meaning:
Now, while this proves that there is an objective reality, our difficulty then becomes in figuring out what we can actually know about it. Here again, things are made simpler by the limitations of the fixed, four-dimensional world in which we live and our five senses through which we perceive it. Simply put, it does not matter whether we do not or cannot fully comprehend the way reality actually is, all that matters is how it actually works within the confines of time and space and our senses. Allow me to illustrate:
If I convince myself that gravity is not really a universal law and that I can actually step of a cliff without falling, no matter how firmly I believe this, the laws of this universe dictate that I am going to fall should I be foolish enough to test my belief.
Therefore, even if the world does exist in a more expansive manner than that which we can perceive and comprehend, it doesn’t matter. We are temporal beings confined to the dimensions and laws of this universe. Whatever our five senses and intellect can discern about this universe within those set limitations is the objective reality within which we live – period. Anything else is nothing more than allowing our imaginations to convince us that something exists which we cannot perceive or prove. This is an important point, and we will deal with it in more depth very soon.