--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Reality itself is not static. This is one…" description: "\"Reality itself is not static. This is one of the things that the psychedelic is trying to put across, that the reality we're embedded in is itself some..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/terence-mckenna-287_conclusion_reality-itself-is-not-static-this-is-one_582977.png" --- # Reality itself is not static. This is one of the things… ![“Reality itself is not static. This is one of the things that the psychedelic is trying to put across, that the reality we're embedded in is itself some kind of an organism and is evolving toward a conclusion.” quote by Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/terence-mckenna-287_conclusion_reality-itself-is-not-static-this-is-one_582977.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/terence-mckenna-287_conclusion_reality-itself-is-not-static-this-is-one_582977.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c49/terence-mckenna-287_conclusion_reality-itself-is-not-static-this-is-one_582977.png) > “Reality itself is not static. This is one of the things that the psychedelic is trying to put across, that the reality we're embedded in is itself some kind of an organism and is evolving toward a conclusion.” [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Reality is portrayed as a living, evolving system rather than a fixed backdrop, suggesting consciousness can influence its development. **In simple terms:** Reality changes like a living organism. Key Takeaway Recognize and engage with the fluid nature of existence. Themes philosophy consciousness change evolution Mood curious reflective inspired Type philosophical spiritual When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - environmental activism - spiritual practice Key Concepts Systems theory psychedelic insight ontological fluidity Questions to Reflect On - How does perceiving reality as alive affect your daily decisions? - Can embracing change reduce fear of the unknown? A Different Perspective Such fluidity can be unsettling, leading to existential anxiety. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Conclusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conclusion/) [Embedded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/embedded/) [Evolve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evolve/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Organisms](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/organisms/) [Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychedelic/) [Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality/) [Reality Static](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reality-static-2508902/) [Static](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/static/) [Things Psychedelic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-psychedelic-4788423/) [Trying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying/) [Trying Reality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/trying-reality-633176/) ## Related quotes > [There must always be a discrepncy between concepts and reality, because the former are static and discontinuous while the latter is dynamic and flowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-james/there-must-always-be-a-discrepncy-between-concepts-and-reality/) [William James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-james/) > [“Reality is not static—its properties are in constant flux, so perhaps we are as much in the world as we can ever be, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/renee-gladman/reality-is-not-static-its-properties-are-in-constant-flux-so-perhaps/) [Renee Gladman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/renee-gladman/) > [Everyone's trying to get a reality show, and we're just trying to avoid accidentally being on a reality show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-foster/everyone-s-trying-to-get-a-reality-show-and-we-re-just-trying-to/) [Erin Foster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-foster/) > [Every time you get on a stage or in front of a camera, the whole exercise is about imagination. 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Humanity, correctly seen in the context of the last five hundred years, is an extruder…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/but-technology-is-the-real-skin-of-our-species-humanity-correctly/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are like coral animals embedded in a technological reef of extruded psychic objects...All our tool-making implies our belief in an ultimate tool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-like-coral-animals-embedded-in-a-technological-reef-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you play the cultural game, it's like playing only with clubs or something, or playing only with the red marked cards. You have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-play-the-cultural-game-it-s-like-playing-only-with-clubs-or/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Ultimately, I think, what the psychedelic experience may be is a higher topological manifold of temporality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/ultimately-i-think-what-the-psychedelic-experience-may-be-is-a-higher/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Part of what the psychedelic point of view represents is living a certain portion of your life without answers. Just accepting that certain dilemmas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/part-of-what-the-psychedelic-point-of-view-represents-is-living-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I see the psychedelic experience as a birthright, and we can't have a free society until people are free to explore their own mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-see-the-psychedelic-experience-as-a-birthright-and-we-can-t-have-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Memory training is great psychedelic training.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/memory-training-is-great-psychedelic-training/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Nothing is as boundary dissolving, except for psychedelic compounds, as travel. Travel is up there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/nothing-is-as-boundary-dissolving-except-for-psychedelic-compounds-as/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More by Terence McKenna > [History was an incredibly damaging experience, and now it's over . . . in a sense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/history-was-an-incredibly-damaging-experience-and-now-it-s-over-in-a/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are somehow the children of the planet, we are somehow its finest hour; we bind time, we bind the past, we anticipate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-somehow-the-children-of-the-planet-we-are-somehow-its-finest/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [The history of man that you don't know is what your unconscious is made out of. Just as the history of yourself that you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/the-history-of-man-that-you-don-t-know-is-what-your-unconscious-is/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [We are consciousness. We may not always be monkeys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/we-are-consciousness-we-may-not-always-be-monkeys/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What is happening here is we are living past the age, by the millions, living past the age where cultural values make any sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-is-happening-here-is-we-are-living-past-the-age-by-the-millions/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [What history is, essentially, is a careening, out-of-control effort to find our way back to this state of primordial balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/what-history-is-essentially-is-a-careening-out-of-control-effort-to/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [And what is the primary datum? It's the felt presence of immediate experience. In other words, being here now is the primary datum.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/and-what-is-the-primary-datum-it-s-the-felt-presence-of-immediate/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Our culture difinitely takes an egocentric dominator view. The fear of the psychedelic experience is quite literally the fear of losing control. Dominator types…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/our-culture-difinitely-takes-an-egocentric-dominator-view-the-fear-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Every step into freedom contains within it the potential for greater bondage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/every-step-into-freedom-contains-within-it-the-potential-for-greater/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [This is the message of your life and my life - it’s that nothing lasts. Heraclitus said it: Panta Rhei. All flows, nothing lasts.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/this-is-the-message-of-your-life-and-my-life-it-s-that-nothing-lasts/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [I often like to think that our map of the world is wrong, that where we have centered physics, we should actually place literature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/i-often-like-to-think-that-our-map-of-the-world-is-wrong-that-where/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Knowledge, or verbal facility, is no proof that you know what you're talking about.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/knowledge-or-verbal-facility-is-no-proof-that-you-know-what-you-re/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [No culture on earth is as heavily narcotized as the industrial West in terms of being inured to the consequences of maladaptive behavior. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/no-culture-on-earth-is-as-heavily-narcotized-as-the-industrial-west/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [Man was not put on this planet to toil in the mud. Or the god who put us on this planet to toil in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/man-was-not-put-on-this-planet-to-toil-in-the-mud-or-the-god-who-put/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) > [If you take psychedelics and the Internet and music and put all of that together you have the basis for a new community that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terence-mckenna/if-you-take-psychedelics-and-the-internet-and-music-and-put-all-of/) [Terence McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) [Explore all 745 Terence McKenna quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terence-mckenna/) ## More Conclusion quotes > [I'm not going to be part of looking at information only partially. 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You don't necessarily reach any conclusions, because wisdom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-tropper/the-thing-about-living-alone-is-that-it-gives-you-a-lot-of-time-to/) [Jonathan Tropper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-tropper/) > [The main conclusion here arrived at ... is that man is descended from some less highly organized form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-main-conclusion-here-arrived-at-is-that-man-is-descended-from/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Your deeper sense isn’t a springboard; it’s a landing place. If you draw conclusions too quickly or too slowly, you’ll establish your self where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-de-ruiter/your-deeper-sense-isn-t-a-springboard-it-s-a-landing-place-if-you/) [John de Ruiter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-de-ruiter/) > [When there is a mission before you, you see it from its beginning to its conclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-white/when-there-is-a-mission-before-you-you-see-it-from-its-beginning-to/) [Jesse White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-white/) > [Every study on chocolate is pointing to the same conclusion: there is something in chocolate that is really good for us. That something is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wolfe/every-study-on-chocolate-is-pointing-to-the-same-conclusion-there-is/) [David Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wolfe/) > [I have come to the definite conclusion that musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shinichi-suzuki/i-have-come-to-the-definite-conclusion-that-musical-ability-is-not-an/) [Shinichi Suzuki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shinichi-suzuki/) > [Study how a society uses its land, and you can come to pretty reliable conclusions as to what its future will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-f-schumacher/study-how-a-society-uses-its-land-and-you-can-come-to-pretty-reliable/) [E. F. Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-f-schumacher/) > [Dr. Arnold . . . the admired reformer of public schools, came across some cranks who thought it a mistake to flog boys. Anyone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/dr-arnold-the-admired-reformer-of-public-schools-came-across-some/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [That's what politics is. It's the story of what's happening, what does it mean, what's the conclusion, who are the interesting characters?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dickerson/that-s-what-politics-is-it-s-the-story-of-what-s-happening-what-does/) [John Dickerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dickerson/) > [It's my firm conclusion that human meaning comes from humans, not from a supernatural source. After we die, our hopes for an afterlife reside…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-graffin/it-s-my-firm-conclusion-that-human-meaning-comes-from-humans-not-from/) [Greg Graffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-graffin/) > [To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a great civilization present a different picture. 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