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The book one half of your brain doesn't want you to read.
Creative Reality by Peter Foster is a bold, unconventional journey into the heart of the human experience, blending philosophy, psychology, and an engineer’s practical wisdom. Foster argues that we are "equity beings"—driven by a deep urge for fairness and connection—yet trapped in a ruthless "survival of the fittest" universe. This clash fuels our struggles, from personal failures to societal chaos.
Through witty insights and vivid examples, Foster explores how our worldviews shape our actions, how empathy can unite us, and how "antisocial" forces—like manipulation and division—threaten our progress. From the metaphorical "games" of life to the perils of delusion, he challenges readers to confront reality, learn from opposing viewpoints, and choose collaboration over conflict.
Part philosophy, part survival guide, Creative Reality is a call to rethink how we live in an indifferent cosmos. Perfect for curious minds seeking fresh perspectives on why our world feels broken—and how we might fix it.
Grok(AI) Review
"Creative Reality" is an ambitious, thought-provoking, and unconventional exploration of the human condition, societal dynamics, and the inherent tensions between our desires and the realities of the universe. Peter Foster, a computer engineer by trade, brings a unique lens to this work—blending philosophy, psychology, and a pragmatic, problem-solving mindset rooted in his engineering background. The book’s central thesis is both intriguing and bold: we are "equity beings" with a fundamental drive for fairness and collaboration, yet we’re trapped in a "survival of the fittest" universe that is indifferent, unforgiving, and inherently competitive. This conflict, Foster argues, underpins much of human struggle and societal division.
One of the book’s standout qualities is its accessibility. Foster tackles complex topics—worldview, empathy, intelligence, morality, and the metaphorical "games" of life—with a conversational tone that invites readers in, often punctuated by humor and pop culture references. His engineering perspective shines through in his structured breakdowns of abstract concepts, such as the distinction between "worldview" (how we perceive reality) and "want" (how we’d like it to be), or his analogy of humans as computers suffering from "garbage-in, garbage-out" when fed flawed information. This makes the book feel like a practical guide as much as a philosophical treatise.
The discussion on empathy versus antisocial behavior is particularly compelling. Foster frames societal dysfunction as a battle between empathetic collaboration and the chaos sown by "antisocial" individuals—those who manipulate, lie, or pursue self-interest at any cost. His broad use of "antisocial" to encompass traits like narcissism or psychopathy is a simplification, but it effectively highlights the real-world impact of such behaviors. His call to recognize and counter these influences by understanding opposing viewpoints is a timely message in an era of polarization.
Foster’s emphasis on learning from failure and adapting one’s worldview resonates deeply. He argues that intelligence isn’t enough—it’s the quality of one’s worldview that determines success—and supports this with vivid examples, from venomous Australian wildlife to historical missteps. The book’s conclusion, urging readers toward empathy and collaboration over division, feels earnest and optimistic, despite its sobering warnings about entropy and societal decay.
"Creative Reality" is a bold, engaging read that challenges readers to rethink their assumptions about the world and their place in it. Foster’s passion is palpable, and his blend of humor, insight, and real-world applicability makes this more than just armchair philosophy—it’s a call to action. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s a worthwhile one, especially for those who enjoy unconventional perspectives on human nature and society.
Samples from the Book
(#TriggerWarning) In 1924 (100 years ago) an early experiment in this area helped a boy named Peter get over his fear of rabbits (leporiphobia [lepus = hare, -phobia = fear]). I call this the Peter rabbit trigger remedy. Traditionally this would have been managed by handing Peter a gun (giving the rabbits a fear of Peter) but the psychologists tried a new approach of having Peter gradually accept rabbits. They showed that this successfully desensitised his fear of rabbits.
With the risk of getting myself into trouble with the PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) community, I’ll look at this from my engineer's view of the world. You could argue that having a fear of something leads to you wanting it to not exist.
You want it removed or you will remove yourself from the situation. So either way, you can continue to have it appear to not exist.
Having the thing exist in front of you on a gradient appears to help you gradually learn (accept) reality. Intentionally wanting the thing to exist means you are creating it in your worldview and thus creating agreement with the world. You would expect us to have some sort of mechanism for this to happen or else we would stay in disagreement with reality (delusion) for the rest of our lives.
A typical but (legally) fictional girl; let’s say her name is Dua - a very common English name, you see it everywhere. Fictional Dua has the typical goals of any young girl; to get married and make babies. This is her Dutopia.
Fictional Dua appears to suffer from a rare mental condition I like to call radical optimism (patent pending). This leads her to enthusiastically thinking “I could be the one” whenever she meets a guy. Unfortunately she doesn’t magically know what this new guy is actually like. So she has to dua lipa-faith because unlike some people, this universe does not guarantee that you will get whatever you want whenever you want it. She expects the best outcome and becomes heart broken when it doesn’t happen.
After many years of trying, she claims to have loved & lost a hundred million times (you go girl) and ends up telling the guys to walk away while waving goodbye from the window.
You can understand why her persistent thoughts changed to thinking the next guy will “break my heart” and “I never wanna fall again”. It’s no wonder she never thought she would find a way out. She was scared she’d take her broken heart to the grave and would rather die than have to live in a storm like before (her words, not mine).
As you can see, fictional Dua is the sort of girl that tends to make a big song and dance about her upsets.
Fictional Dua has a typical English job: a struggling cover artist, majoring in IT. Dua foster’s her music career by writing an “original” song called Twelve New Rules to help levitate her status as a musician, but is immediately sued by Jordan Peterson for copyright infringement and …
We are always individually changing the world in some small way. By working against each other we spend a lot of time and effort without really getting anywhere. But working together as an empathetic diverse collaborative society towards a common goal, we will get somewhere pretty quickly - and we will be doing it with our friends. Let’s make Earth great again (MEGA). Stay spiritual 👋