"One cannot help being struck by the fact that according to Freudian, Jungian and Gestalt methods of dream interpretation, these alternative selves, some of them bringing alternative universes with them, manifest every night in our sleep. Some physicists describe the other universes and other selves as "virtual", but does that not also describe our dreams? And does it not appear that virtual selves and virtual realities have infiltrated both psychology and physics because, as this book claims, all sufficiently advanced analysis must eventually abandon Aristotelian certitude and accept models - reality tunnels - based on probabilities?" (page 165).
This is the basis of true Chaos Magick, as I understand it. It's no wonder RAW is held so highly amongst Chaotes haha
All possibilities exist concurrently at all times with varying degrees of probabilities. Choice collapses all possibilities into the reality that manifests on the material plane. I notice that certain mood states are more expansive and open the realm of possibilities more than other mood states that collapse the range of possibilities. I find that holding as many possibilities as possible (usually only 5 to 7 possibilities if I'm lucky) and acting on the one that seems to be the best choice of action without collapsing or feeling overwhelmed by the range of possibilities can be really difficult.
Even as someone who believes RAW's statement to be relatively true, my own Ego still loves to assert that my Ego "is" only one confined, rigid set of behaviors. It consistently fails to acknowledge it's full range of motion so that it can ignore and hide from responsibility. I also suspect that other people may experience a similar struggle and that I "am not" unique for experiencing this. Depending on your point of view, I could be extremely lucky or extremely disadvantaged for conceptualizing the self in such a way.
Evolutionary Psychology and Cognitive Behavior Psychology tell me that holding more possibilities at once to influence decision making and then further refining and reflecting on those same decisions, is Meta Cognition and part of what has allowed us to become the beings we "are". Cognitive Behavior Psychology will also tell you that humans are not as good at Meta Cognizing as they think they "are", and that Meta Cognition "is" discouraged because we cannot be unbiased towards ourselves. Alas, I've found myself back in the realm of Solipsism (just like RAW has pointed out time and again in this book).
It's amazing that we "are" only capable of experiencing our own reality tunnel, no more or no less, at any given time. Sometimes, it seems as if we can peer into other people's reality tunnels, but that raises another question. "Are" we truly peering into their reality tunnel or "are" we still just experiencing our own reality tunnel? I suppose that when we erroneously believe we "are" experiencing someone else's reality tunnel, our distortion of their reality tunnel "is" the act of projection. Theoretically, some reality tunnels align with mine, creating a Venn Diagram of sorts with a Vesica Piscis in the center of the overlapping reality tunnels (envisioned by the circles of the Venn Diagram). The Vesica Piscis contains the shared sliver of space-time where the two reality tunnels affirm each other's point of view.
Chaos Magick also argues that "Nothing is true, everything is permissible," (or in E-Prime, "Nothing seems true, everything seems permissible). RAW asked earlier in the book how many people does it take to affirm something before it "is" true? Two? Three? Four people? If I have someone else who affirms my reality tunnel and we can identify what occupies that Vesica shaped shared space, does that make us true? 50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong, right?
