Thinking is part of reality

Our educational system and our culture lie to us. We are taught by our educational system and by our culture that there is thinking and there is reality and that thinking’s job is to discover reality; never informing us that reality and thinking go together, one is not separated from the other. Reflexivity is a concept that informs us that thinking is part of reality.

In the natural sciences truth is of the utmost importance because knowledge of reality is a precondition for success. In human affairs there are shortcuts to success—one can lie, manipulate, spin, and use force to gain success. Thus in human affairs truth often takes a back seat.

In his book “Open Society” George Soros speaks of many things; one important concept is ‘reflexivity’. “I started thinking in terms of reflexivity nearly fifty years ago. It may be interesting to recall how I arrived at the idea. It was through the footnotes of Karl Popper’s “Open Society and its Enemies”…I started to apply the concept of reflexivity to the understanding of social affairs, and particularly of financial markets, in the early 1960s before evolutionary systems theory was born…”

The first chapter of this book, wherein he explains this concept, can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/chapter/soros.htm.

"Our educational system and our culture lie to us."
That seems a bit harsh. I doubt these people know enough to lie about this particular subject. More than likely they are just unaware or just brainwashed.

We are part of reality. Our thoughts are products of our minds which are products of our brains which are also part of reality. Supernaturalists believe that mind exists apart from brain - consciousness exists after death, before life. Some of them believe that consciousness can leave the living body, experience the world sans sensory organs, travel at its own volition, and recouple with the body. In fact, some of them assert that consciousness is the only reality and the physical universe - what we perceive as reality - is completely illusory.

A similar duality exists between artificial and natural. This is the false dichotomy that implies that we, as the creators of the 'artificial', and the things we create are somehow separate from the rest of Nature.