Hi Paul,

>>>Dick himself acknowledges that there is something (he doesn't go as far as acknowledging it to be part of reality though) that is 'outside' his model. And, that is the observer or thinker in the picture who has the 'model' 'in his head'.>>Harv, you are overlooking the *enormous* potential of a differential equation that is in sync with what is going on. The real potential is when someone discovers a new solution to the equation. In these cases, inferences can be made about correspondences between elements of the solution and aspects of reality. These can truly be unanticipated facts about our world.>Just think of Maxwell's equations. As soon as he found solutions, it was obvious to him that light was EM radiation and that the propagation of EM radiation in a vast range of other frequencies was possible. Now, in the wake of that insight we have virtually our whole society dependent on its applications.