The cannabis world's thriving sector has enjoyed federal legalization since the 2018 Farm Bill. Now, because of an amendment in the bill to reopen the government, it might go up in smoke.

In November, Congress passed a federal funding package to end the government shutdown that included a provision that would functionally ban all …

Panpsychism and related views, such as idealism or certain interpretations of quantum mechanics, propose that consciousness plays a fundamental role in shaping or creating reality. The processes by which believers in these philosophies think consciousness creates reality vary depending on the specific framework, but they generally revolve around the following key ideas: 1. **Consciousness as Fundamental**: - Panpsychists believe consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe, present in all matter to varying degrees (from simple particles to complex brains). They argue that reality is inherently tied to consciousness, and the physical world emerges from or is co-dependent with conscious experience. - In this view, consciousness doesn't "create" reality in a deliberate, intentional sense but is the substrate or essence of reality itself. For example, philosopher Philip Goff suggests that matter and consciousness are two aspects of the same fundamental stuff, so reality is always "consciousness-involved." 2. **Reality as a Manifestation of Mind**: - Idealist philosophies, closely related to panpsychism, propose that reality is entirely mental or mind-dependent. Thinkers like George Berkeley argued that "to be is to be perceived" (esse est percipi), meaning objects exist only as ideas in a mind, whether a human mind or a universal consciousness (e.g., God). - In this framework, the process of reality creation is the act of perception or mental representation. The physical world is a coherent set of experiences sustained by consciousness, either individually or collectively. 3. **Quantum Mechanics and Observer Effect**: - Some panpsychists and those with similar views draw on interpretations of quantum mechanics, like the von Neumann-Wigner interpretation, which suggests that consciousness collapses the quantum wave function. In this view, reality exists in a superposition of possibilities until a conscious observer measures or perceives it, thereby "creating" a definite state. - For example, when a conscious being observes a quantum event, they actualize one outcome from many potential states, shaping the physical reality. This idea is controversial and not universally accepted in physics but is popular among those who see consciousness as central to reality. 4. **Collective or Universal Consciousness**: - Some panpsychist or idealist views posit a collective or cosmic consciousness that underlies reality. This universal mind might be seen as orchestrating the physical world, with individual consciousnesses contributing to the larger whole. - In this process, reality is a shared "dream" or projection of a universal consciousness, and individual experiences are fragments of this greater mind. Thinkers like Bernardo Kastrup argue that physical reality is a manifestation of a single, universal consciousness interacting with itself. 5. **Subjective Construction of Reality**: - Panpsychists often emphasize that what we perceive as reality is constructed by consciousness through sensory and cognitive processes. This aligns with neuroscientific and psychological insights about how the brain filters and interprets raw data to create a coherent experience of the world. - In this sense, consciousness doesn't create the external world ex nihilo but shapes the subjective reality each individual experiences, which some panpsychists argue is the only reality we can know. 6. **Non-Dualist Perspectives**: - In some spiritual or philosophical traditions related to panpsychism, such as Advaita Vedanta or certain Buddhist schools, reality is seen as an illusion (maya) or a play of consciousness. Here, the process of "creating" reality is the act of consciousness mistaking itself for separate entities or objects, when in truth, all is one unified consciousness. - The physical world appears real due to this misperception, and enlightenment or awakening reveals the underlying unity of consciousness as the true reality. ### Key Variations in Belief - **Panpsychism**: Consciousness is intrinsic to all matter, and reality is a interplay of conscious entities at all scales, not created by a single mind but co-constituted by many. - **Idealism**: Reality is entirely mental, existing only in consciousness, with no independent physical substrate. - **Quantum-Inspired Views**: Consciousness collapses quantum possibilities into definite states, giving rise to the observed world. - **Spiritual/Metaphysical Views**: A universal consciousness or divine mind projects or sustains reality, with individual minds participating in or perceiving this projection. ### Challenges and Criticisms - Critics argue these views lack empirical evidence and struggle to explain how consciousness translates into the consistent, objective physical world we observe. - The "combination problem" in panpsychism questions how micro-level consciousnesses (e.g., in particles) combine to form complex, unified experiences like human awareness. - Quantum-based arguments are contested, as many physicists argue the observer effect doesn't require consciousness, only measurement or interaction. ### Conclusion Believers in panpsychism and similar views see consciousness as either the essence of reality, the projector of subjective experience, or the mechanism that actualizes physical states. The "creation" of reality is less about deliberate construction and more about consciousness being the foundation, medium, or active participant in what we perceive as the world. These ideas remain speculative and philosophical, often bridging metaphysics, science, and spirituality, but they challenge materialist assumptions about the nature of reality.