In the world of modern science, consciousness is reduced to a fading epiphenomenon, left over after the brain has been physically explained. It seems to arise when matter is suitably organized, but scientists and philosophers have been unable to explain why complex organization should produce anything beyond complex physical behavior. Yet consciousness won’t go away.

One possibility is that, instead of being produced by matter, consciousness is a separate element, added to physical systems. This can be modeled using the idea of a virtual reality, in which a human subject enters a computer-simulated world through a sensory interface. In this book, virtual reality is used as a metaphor for our situation as conscious beings. The basic theme is that what we can imagine doing in a virtual reality system may actually be happening in nature on a vastly greater scale. Nature may be like a computer simulation interfaced with conscious observer/participants.

This groundbreaking book shows how conscious beings could interact with a physically realistic virtual world. It shows how paranormal phenomena can be reconciled in a natural way with the laws of physics, and it sheds light on paradoxes of time, on life beyond the body, and on cosmic and terrestrial evolution. In a sweeping synthesis, the ideas and data of modern science are used to illuminate the ancient theme of consciousness in a world of illusion.

Brings Science and Religion Together

This is a great book. As you can tell from the cover blurb, this book uses Virtual Reality as a metaphorical device to explain consciousness. Brings together threads that relate to the ideas of Michael Talbot (holographic universe), Rupert Sheldrake (concept of morphic resonance), and many other "real" scientists, as well as the Scientific and Religious principals of Srila Prabhupada.

The book is well written and non-biased in my opinion. Many of the scientific concepts that relate to our current understanding of consciousness are well and fairly explained, in a "nutshell" in my (lay person’s) opinion. The author doesn’t have an axe to grind, which makes the book a bit dry at times, but still a rewarding read.

The only slight criticism I would have is that the end -- where some of the Vedic Religious principals that essentially describe the Spirit-Soul and God are discussed -- is presented as a somewhat abrupt conclusion to the preceding chapters of the book.

All in all, however, this is an excellent book. Mr. Thompson walks a razor’s edge in bringing together Science/Religion and God, and he does it successfully. This book will age well.

Amazing, profound and eye-opening

Richard Thompson has done a wonderful job in this book, delving into all kinds of topics, from Deterministic Chaos, Turing Machines, Relativity, Quantum Mechanics to all kinds of psychic and paranormal phenomena while maintaining the overall theme of the book - exploring the possibility that the world we live in may not be the real world. I won’t be surprised if 100 years from now, Richard Thompson is hailed as a scientist at par with Einstein, though I feel his insights are better than what Einstein had - after all, even Einstein was wrong some times. But Richard Thompson seems to raise points which no sane scientist can refuse. It is a pity he is not yet recognized for his outstanding writings.