The Bitter Truth of Reality

By Mahmoud Elsayed

Reality is the one word that describes everything we live in, everything we know, knew, and will. It represents time, space, and all the other possible dimensions. But what exactly is reality? In his book, The Bitter Truth of Reality, author Mahmoud Elsayed attempts to answer this complex query by taking a journey through physics, biology, human anatomy, history, philosophy, and even religions. Hopefully, by the end of this book, the reader will find an answer to this question that sits at the top of the existential questions list. It also offers an opportunity for its readers to come to terms with being an ordinary human within the shadow of the grand scheme of all existence. Humanity currently lives in a time when rationality is prioritized above everything else. We define reality by what our minds process to be true from data our senses can provide us. As a result, each of us treats any idea, belief, or experience that fails logic as impossible or flawed. But should humanity put faith in how our limited biology interprets reality around us, and can we rely on our minds to tell us everything there is to know about us, our universe - or even what's outside of it? This book describes how mankind, in search of objective insight, has entrusted science with the duty of filtering reality from the surreal. However, in place of answers, scientific inquiry might be doomed to discover only more questions. In the end, how can we tell apart what is real, and how does this change what we know about ourselves? The more we develop as a species, the more questions we will ask about the truth of our existence. Are we here on purpose? Or are we the result of some cosmic accident? More inquires and discussions in The Bitter Truth of reality.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mahmoud Elsayed
• Release date: Jun 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201379544

Book preview

Chapter 1

The biological cage and the deluding brain of ours

To define what reality is, we must understand how we came to know it. To investigate this, I think it could be clear that we got to know reality through our senses and the perceived image we make out of them. Hence, to answer a complicated query such as what is reality?, one must ask first how do we see reality? and how do we perceive it?. This perhaps will help us to know whether we are able to answer this question objectively or not and examine the tools that will help us in the journey of answering such a complex query.

How do we see reality?

This question may sound much simpler than it really is. To answer this question, we need to dive a little bit into the physics of light, the anatomy and physiology of the sight sensation, and the mental perception of this sensation. This dive could be a bit overwhelmingly informative. However, I will try to mention only the relevant information and keep it as simple as possible. So, put on the gears and let us get started.

Physics of Light

Light, or rather visual light, is a member of a family called electromagnetic radiation. These electromagnetic radiations can be created by oscillating electrons that results in creating an oscillating electric field and an oscillating magnetic field known as the electromagnetic wave. Like any wave, the electromagnetic waves have an amplitude, wavelength, frequency, and speed.

All these characteristics vary based on the type of the electromagnetic wave. Only the speed is fixed to the highest speed in the universe which is exactly 299,792,985 meters per second in a vacuum.

How things appear in different colors depends on their ability to absorb or reflect the different wavelengths (colors) of light waves, and their optical density or their ability to slow down light as it travels through them.

To explain this, let us imagine a light wave passing through a triangular prism. The white light will break down into its essential color components (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet). This process is known in physics as dispersion which happens due to the different optical density of the different parts of the prism which allow each wavelength (color) to pass with certain

Reviews for The Bitter Truth of Reality

[Mike Espenosa · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is truly a mind-changing book. It changed my life views. The author has a beautiful way to discuss the matter of reality in a juice of science and philosophy. Overall, I highly recommend this book to everyone.