Aquifer of Consciousness

Your reality and mine are unique. Although we're likely to agree on most objective facts, our subjective realities may be infinitely divergent. Regardless of personal philosophy - apart from, say, believing we live in an entirely pre-programmed universe, which is within the realm of possibility (i.e., show me it's not) - we would probably agree that reality is malleable.

So how are we to know the true nature of reality? We know reality through our consciousness. While I may personally entertain the idea that everything - from the smallest particles to the largest coalescence - has the capacity for consciousness, here I'll reflect on human consciousness primarily. And to refine the concept further, I'll define basic consciousness as "awareness of the here and now."

Our individual reality is comprised of both objective "fact" (e.g., the sun appears in the east each morning) and subjective experience (e.g., I have interacted with extraterrestrials). Subjective experience gives us "awareness of the here and now," and in this way there is no pervasive objective reality in the realm of individual consciousness.

Differences in the perception of reality are based on our exact perspective from our position in space. Our awareness is more sharply focused by our unique quantum arrangement - a filtering system for experience. Each conscious being maintains a virtual aquifer of consciousness, which is its primary source of insight, intuition, and knowledge. Like limestone through which water passes, our consciousness is recycling everything it encounters, discarding the extraneous and keeping that which makes sense.