English
Testimonials
What readers say about The Making of Reality
“The Making of Reality is a comprehensive and enjoyable exploration of the profound connections between new physics and the role of consciousness. It takes complex concepts and makes them understandable.”
William Buhlman, author of “Adventures Beyond the Body”
“This is Jörg Starkmuth’s first book. It will be a very hard act to follow. The Making of Reality does everything a good book should: informs, entertains, delights, amuses, excites and keeps you turning the pages.”
Hugh Featherstone (Read the full review at the end of this page.)
“Excellent clarity and brilliant presentation on the subject of reality, consciousness and the workings of the mind. A must for anyone wanting to understand or transform their own life.”
Vincent Sinniah, Toronto
“Thank you for bringing, or actually opening up a fresh perspective through your words to the reader. I was entranced by the well-roundedness of the presentation you offer. Laced with antiquity, yet holding the flavour of where our society and world stand … Again, thank you for helping me find another answer (perspective) to the puzzle …”
Keith Randall
“The content is fascinating, and I must tell you, this is the best translation to English I have ever read; it is really perfect and reads very naturally – wow! It’s really great – you nailed the language!”
Steve Shultis
“Your book virtually replaces entire libraries. Simply PERFECT!”
Peter Dimmroth
“I thoroughly enjoyed your book. I have read just about all the English-language texts you cite, and even so I believe you have added something significant to the discussion.”
Andy Feehan, Mussy-sur-Seine, France
“I was blown away by the consistency, the precise explanations and how you pinpoint everything, leaving no gaps.”
Susanne Weiss
“Your book has the potential to become a standard work.”
Claus Fritzsche
“I had expected strenuous mental work. Far from it. It turned out to be more like an inspiring conversation between good friends.”
D. S.
“Thank you very much for this unique, wonderful, extremely enriching book!”
Marianne Otte-Unger
“This book has given me a lot. Not only many, many smiles and laughs, but also a lot of spiritual help and courage.”
C. R.
“I have read your book with enthusiasm, and I find that it’s the best that exists in this field. […] Finally there’s someone who explains to me how our lives and our minds work.”
Gudrun Lebitsch
“I am thankful and happy. Finally I received answers to my questions. Finally!!! […] I will recommend this book to as many people as possible.”
V. B.
“A hint of humour leaves its mark on many a line, making the book even more worth reading than it is already from a literary point of view.”
Marianne Pichler
“Your book is excellent, enlightening and exhilarating. I admire your light, inspiring writing style.”
Prof. Dr. Karl Venker
“I could continue writing about my enthusiasm for hours or pages …”
A. H.
“I must say, your book does not leave any questions unanswered. […] THE compendium about the really big questions of humanity and our time.”
Ralf Neugebauer
“SUPER-BOOK! It has just helped me a lot in a current life crisis.”
Jenniver Gebhardt
“Nowhere have I read about this subject in such a profound and differentiated way as in your book.”
Stefan Wicke
“I assume that this is currently the only book that builds such a broad and solid bridge between science and spirituality.”
Rainer A. Schmitz
“Your book is like a summary of all books I have ever read.”
Peter Schwegler
“No indoctrination, no know-it-all attitude, simply a pleasure.”
Helfried Richter
“Presenting large, complex contexts in a comprehensible way is not an easy skill – but Jörg Starkmuth manages to do it playfully.”
Stefan Pitka
“Finally, a book about which one can say: That’s how it should be done.”
Christoph Schönhofer
“What exhilarated me about your book was the solid way you underpin the working principles with scientific findings.”
Dr. Gerhard Albert
“It is unbelievable how much power and energy I have drawn from the book.”
Susanne Schmidt
“A real treasure and one of the most important books to me. Thank you!!!”
Axel Schreiber
“Everything’s pinpointed in such a crystal-clear way … and so amusing … I had to laugh so much when reading it, simply beautiful!”
Santana Wagner
“I’m captivated by reading your book. Or more correctly: liberated!”
J. S.
“Structure, logic, language – everything is done excellently and written very diligently, too.”
Alexander Jürries
“The most impressive book I have ever read. Not just the contents is captivating, but also the writing style.”
Jürgen Gesierich
Life is what you make it … literally!
A review by Hugh Featherstone
The Making of Reality draws on the findings of cosmologists, behavioural biologists, sociologists, anthropologists, psychologists, philosophers and quantum physicists, as well as that community of therapists and life-coaches who work in the field of human well-being, to offer a quite remarkable explanation for why the world is both exactly the way we think it is and yet, at the same time, utterly and radically different from all our perceptions and preconceptions. This is Jörg Starkmuth’s first book. It will be a very hard act to follow.
The author argues that we live in a world which – though it appears to be more or less one and the same to each of us, within the natural latitudes of subjectivity – is in “reality” an omni-facetted, collective creation, based on the sum of all experience that shares a sufficient margin of overlap to create a cultural and conceptual norm. This normative process is so powerful, stemming from the most primitive roots of our pre-historic psychology, that it can effectively negate or marginalize all or any experience, however “well-founded”, “correct” or “intuitively powerful” that does not receive collective acceptance. This effectively explains why each age has its zeitgeist, belief structures and rationale, also why different peoples have different social codes, a different understanding of history, of nature, of humanity, even of time. It also explains how entire civilizations have been able to take such blindingly obvious routes into oblivion and why we prefer to persecute our prophets rather than pay them any attention.
If the book only went this far, it would already have proved its worth, while staying on relatively safe socio-psychological and anthropological turf. But The Making of Reality goes far beyond this. It presents a seamless and cogent argument, based on sound physical premises, for throwing overboard our entire conventional view of time, of reality, of humanity, of life, the universe and, well … everything, to replace it with a conceptual multi-verse of which we ourselves are not only the prime developers but also, quite possibly, the origin. And if, as Starkmuth asks, the entire observable reality is merely a figment of my/your/our fertile imagination, then surely we are free to change and improve it? If I am my own God, can I dispense with tiresome little you and all the trouble you are causing me? The enticing possibilities, but also the clear constraints, of this radical approach occupy the last third of the book and present us with a new concept of self and a re-evaluation of what we can truly expect to achieve in life.
So, does this excellent work justify the reckless pursuit of personal happiness? Definitely not! Indeed, the deeper you go into Starkmuth’s premise, the more you realize that the blind pursuit of almost anything is a potential disaster. The final chapters, while serving as a handbook on how to effectively improve your personal reality, nonetheless encourage us to develop, in Rheinhold Niebuhr’s immortal words, the “serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference” … except that “serenity”, “courage” and “wisdom” begin to take on new meanings here, as do “things” and, most of all, the simple word “know”. As Bill Clinton famously put it, sometimes it depends what you mean by “is”.
Will this book change your life? Well, you’ll consider the concepts “change” and “life” somewhat differently once you’ve finished reading it. It will certainly alter the way you regard your own life, the way you let things affect you and your perception of self. Should you buy it? As someone involved in the editing and translating of the book, I’m not strictly qualified to answer that one without serving my own obvious interests. But if I were someone else, and from the premise of this book I quite possibly am, then yes, I’d buy it and consider it money very well spent. The Making of Reality does everything a good book should: informs, entertains, delights, amuses, excites and keeps you turning the pages.