Contents
Introduction
The conventional view of reality is grounded in a materialistic model of the world. According to this model, only matter and physical laws exist, which determine everything that happens. In this view, consciousness is merely a byproduct of biochemical processes, and meaning is a subjective illusion with no independent existence.
However, despite the popularity of the materialist worldview, it faces a number of unresolved problems. Why does quantum mechanics show that the observer influences reality? Where does meaning come from, and why does it exert an objective impact on the world? Why can ideas, philosophies, and religions reshape civilizations, if they are merely “fantasies” of the mind?
The answer lies in the second layer of reality — the dimension of meaning, which is just as real as the material world. In this layer, meanings exist with their own kind of “gravity”, capable of attracting consciousness. It is through this layer that perception, and even physical reality itself, are formed.
This article argues that materialism is not the ultimate truth, but just one interpretation — and that a second, meaning-based reality provides a deeper explanation of the world we live in.
Materialism as a Limited Interpretation
The materialist approach gained dominance due to the immense success of science. It is based on the premise that everything can be reduced to matter and physical laws, and that consciousness is just a side-effect of neural activity.
However, materialism faces fundamental limitations it cannot overcome:
Materialism cannot explain consciousness
- Why do we have subjective experience at all? Why do we perceive the world, instead of just processing it like machines?
- How does awareness arise from inanimate matter? Why do stones and computers not have self-awareness, but humans do?
Materialism cannot explain meaning
- Why do ideas, which have no physical substance, shape the world?
- Why does belief in money, nations, or laws mobilize millions of people to act?
- If meaning is just an illusion, why does it have real consequences in reality?
Quantum Mechanics: The Observer Changes Reality
- In double-slit experiments, particles behave like waves until they are observed. When measured, they behave like particles.
- This suggests that the act of observation changes reality — contradicting the materialist view of a world existing independently of the observer.
- If reality is shaped by observation, then consciousness is not secondary, but fundamental.
All these contradictions reveal that materialism is incomplete in explaining consciousness, meaning, and quantum effects.