This paper is written as a Socratic dialogue between a lecturer and a student. In a non-technical style, it presents some elements for an operational description of reality. Following a brief introductory discussion about the main characterizing ingredients of a scientific approach to reality, the reader is introduced to a number of important, but unexpectedly puzzling, concepts which are at the roots of our scientific language. More specifically, using a number of simple examples, the dialogue explores the meaning of concepts such as: experimental test, property, attribute, actuality and potentiality, entity, state, certainty, identity, evolution, classical and quantum probabilities, energy, space and non-locality, and many others as well. The old questions of determinism and dualism will also be addressed, and the role played by the participatory consciousnesses in our operational understanding of reality considered. Note: This paper is the first half of a dialogue which is to be continued and concluded in the next issue of JofC.

Sassoli de Bianchi, M. (2006). A Dialogue About Science, Reality and the Consciousness - Part I. Journal of Conscientiology 9, pp. 365-418.

Also published in Italian in: ​AutoRicerca 7, 2014.