Editing Consensus reality (section)

==General discussion==
In considering the nature of reality, two broad approaches exist: the [[philosophical realism|realist]] approach, in which there is a single, [[objectivity (philosophy)|objective]], overall reality believed to exist irrespective of the [[philosophy of perception|perceptions]] of any given individual, and the [[idealism|idealistic]] approach, in which it is considered that an individual can verify nothing except their own ''[[experience]]'' of the world, and can never directly know the truth of the world independent of that.

[[Peter L. Berger|Berger]] and [[Thomas Luckmann|Luckmann]] argue that "reality is [[socially constructed reality|socially constructed]] and that the [[sociology of knowledge]] must analyze the process in which this occurs". Rather than being a purely philosophical topic, the question of reality includes, for them, the sociological study of consensus reality.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Berger|first1= Peter|last2= Luckmann|first2= Thomas|date= 1991|orig-date= 1966|title= The Social Construction of Reality|publisher= Penguin Books|chapter= Introduction}}</ref>

Consider this example: consensus reality for people who follow a particular [[Theocentricism|theocentric]] religion is different from consensus reality for those who follow another theocentric religion, or from those that eschew theocentric religions in favor of [[science]] alone, for explaining life and the [[universe]].

In societies where theocentric religions are dominant, the religious understanding of existence would be the consensus reality. In a predominantly [[secular]] society, where the consensus reality is grounded in science alone, the religious worldview would be the non-consensus (or alternative) reality.

In this way, different individuals and communities have fundamentally different [[world view]]s,<ref name="ken_wilber_1">According to philosopher [[Ken Wilber]]. See Ken Wilber's book ''A Brief History of Everything''.</ref> with fundamentally different comprehensions of the world around them, and of the constructs within which they live. Thus, a society that is, for example, completely secular and one which believes every eventuality to be subject to metaphysical influence will have very different consensus realities, and many of their beliefs on broad issues such as [[science]], [[slavery]], and [[human sacrifice]] may differ in direct consequence of the differences in the perceived nature of the world they live in.

Charles Tart in his book "The Awakening" proposed an alternative term - "''conditioned reality'' " (''conditioned'' or ''conditional reality''), pointing out the inaccuracy of the term "consensus reality", since no one asks an individual for consent whether he wants to live in a "generally accepted reality", because he is accustomed to it through “ conditioning ” - the development of conditioned reflexes in the process of education and socialization.<ref>''Kiselyov A.'' The originality of the language of Arnold Mindell. Preface by the translator. // ''Mindell A.'' The power of silence: How symptoms enrich life. - M.: AST, 2004. - <nowiki>ISBN 5-17-021066-3</nowiki> .</ref>