Consensus reality

Consensus reality is the set or totality of what is believed to be real, the "reality" accepted by the majority of individuals (or subset of individuals) in a given place or at a given time.

Functions of Consensus reality

The connotation of the term "consensus reality" is, with few exceptions, disparaging: it is usually employed by idealist, surrealist and other anti-realist theorists with the implication that this consensus reality is, to a greater or lesser extent, created by those who experience it. (The phrase "consensus reality" may be used more loosely to refer to any generally accepted set of beliefs.)

The theory of reality enforcement holds that belief in consensus reality (the "reality" of "reality enforcement" is used in this sense) -- on which the apparent persistence of consensus reality's existence may depend -- is "enforced" or promoted through various means including sanctions applied against those who challenge it.

The theory of reality enforcement is opposed by those who believe in the theory called "reality enforcers." (It should be noted Alan C. Walter uses the phrase "reality enforcers" in a highly idiosyncratic way having nothing to do with the theory of reality enforcement.) The so-called "reality enforcers" appeal to an objectivist theory of reality, rejecting multiple subjective realities which could diverge considerably; this makes nonsensical the theory of "reality enforcement".

Believers in reality enforcement are typically sympathetic to anti-psychiatry and would describe involuntary commitment as often being a form of reality enforcement (as in the course of treatment the patient may be encouraged to abandon beliefs the psychiatrist considers to be delusions and thus to have his beliefs come into line with consenus reality). Mental health codes in some United States states even specify that a diminished "capacity to recognize reality" is part of the standard for mental illness, something to which believers in the theory of reality enforcement would obviously object.

"Reality enforcement" is also used in a more general sense to mean an (often violent or forceful) ending of a "fantasy" in the person, persons or group on whom it is enacted.[1] Thus it was used as a term by David Pryce-Jones to describe the actions of American troops who captured Saddam Hussein and thus caused his "fantasy" of greatness to collapse after the 2003 invasion of Iraq.[2]

Consensus reality and reality enforcement in fiction and literature

Various dystopian novels, such as Nineteen Eighty-Four, feature a highly controlled consensus reality.
The works of Philip K. Dick often involve shifts in or deviations from consensus reality
The works of Robert Anton Wilson usually discuss consensus reality
The film The Matrix shows something similar to reality enforcement; Agent Smith could be called a "reality enforcer."
Reality Enforcement Commission is a comic by Neilson Nguyen, with artwork by Nora Summers.
The Mage: The Ascension RPG takes place in a cosmology where, in modern times, mages must work against the consensus reality which dictates that magic cannot work and must cope with the results of the paradox which results if they do. They must contend with the sinister reality enforcers known as the Technocracy.
Nancy Kress's short story The Flowers of Aulit Prison and the related Probability Space series deal with a species in which the consensus reality is propagated and enforced biologically.
Karl Schroeder's novel Lady of Mazes posits a society with technologically-enforced separate realities; the protagonist can switch between them, and rebuilds a shared consensus reality.
Norman O. Brown's book, Love's Body dicusses reality enforcement

External links

Consensus Reality is a record label.

Consensus Reality is an Internet blog.[3]

Functions of Consensus reality

Consensus reality and reality enforcement in fiction and literature

See also

External links