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Here’s the problem:

We are trapped.

“Trapped” maybe isn’t the best word. It implies an involuntary condition. A state from which one wishes to escape. Most people aren’t even aware of their “confinement”, so it’s hard to argue that they wish to escape.

How are we trapped?

1. We are trapped in the present.

We experience the “timeless eternal now”. No one has ever experienced the past. No one has ever experienced the future. In spite of this total lack of direct experience, all of us (most of us) are convinced that there is a past and there is a future.

But the past and future are abstractions – they are concepts based on the nature of our experience in the present. From the eternal present we postulate the existence of a “past” and a “future”.

2. We are trapped in consciousness.

We experience nothing but uninterrupted, “subjective” consciousness. No human being has ever experienced anything other than consciousness. We may become unconscious, but we never experience unconsciousness. For us, experience IS consciousness, and consciousness IS experience.

An objective physical reality – a reality existing outside of consciousness – is an abstraction. It is a concept based on the nature of our experience of “now” and our consciousness. From uninterrupted subjective consciousness we postulate the existence of an “objective” reality that lies outside of consciousness.

Sometimes materialists forget that objective reality is an abstraction. We don’t need objective reality to be “real” to study it.

And sometimes non-materialists forget that experiences have form and structure. There’s no denying that the physical world exists. The real question (and it’s an unanswerable one) is how it exists.

And here’s what I think is the biggest question of all:

“Why am I here?”

<blockquote data-quote="gibran2" data-source="post: 3562465" data-attributes="member: 4390">Here’s the problem:We are trapped.“Trapped” maybe isn’t the best word. It implies an involuntary condition. A state from which one wishes to escape. Most people aren’t even aware of their “confinement”, so it’s hard to argue that they wish to escape.How are we trapped?1.&nbsp; &nbsp; We are trapped in the present.We experience the “timeless eternal now”. No one has ever experienced the past. No one has ever experienced the future. In spite of this total lack of direct experience, all of us (most of us) are convinced that there is a past and there is a future.But the past and future are abstractions – they are concepts based on the nature of our experience in the present. From the eternal present we postulate the existence of a “past” and a “future”.2.&nbsp; &nbsp; We are trapped in consciousness.We experience nothing but uninterrupted, “subjective” consciousness. No human being has ever experienced anything other than consciousness. We may become unconscious, but we never experience unconsciousness. For us, experience IS consciousness, and consciousness IS experience.An objective physical reality – a reality existing outside of consciousness – is an abstraction. It is a concept based on the nature of our experience of “now” and our consciousness. From uninterrupted subjective consciousness we postulate the existence of an “objective” reality that lies outside of consciousness.Sometimes materialists forget that objective reality is an abstraction. We don’t need objective reality to be “real” to study it.And sometimes non-materialists forget that experiences have form and structure. There’s no denying that the physical world exists. The real question (and it’s an unanswerable one) is how it exists.And here’s what I think is the biggest question of all:“Why am I here?”</blockquote>

[QUOTE="gibran2, post: 3562465, member: 4390"] Here’s the problem: We are trapped. “Trapped” maybe isn’t the best word. It implies an involuntary condition. A state from which one wishes to escape. Most people aren’t even aware of their “confinement”, so it’s hard to argue that they wish to escape. How are we trapped? 1. We are trapped in the present. We experience the “timeless eternal now”. No one has ever experienced the past. No one has ever experienced the future. In spite of this total lack of direct experience, all of us (most of us) are convinced that there is a past and there is a future. But the past and future are abstractions – they are concepts based on the nature of our experience in the present. From the eternal present we postulate the existence of a “past” and a “future”. 2. We are trapped in consciousness. We experience nothing but uninterrupted, “subjective” consciousness. No human being has ever experienced anything other than consciousness. We may become unconscious, but we never experience unconsciousness. For us, experience IS consciousness, and consciousness IS experience. An objective physical reality – a reality existing outside of consciousness – is an abstraction. It is a concept based on the nature of our experience of “now” and our consciousness. From uninterrupted subjective consciousness we postulate the existence of an “objective” reality that lies outside of consciousness. Sometimes materialists forget that objective reality is an abstraction. We don’t need objective reality to be “real” to study it. And sometimes non-materialists forget that experiences have form and structure. There’s no denying that the physical world exists. The real question (and it’s an unanswerable one) is how it exists. And here’s what I think is the biggest question of all: “Why am I here?” [/QUOTE]