CONCEPT
Intersubjective Reality
Harari's third order of reality—entities (money, nations, corporations, laws) that exist because multiple humans collectively believe in them, maintained through active participation and possessing practical power despite lacking physical substance.
Intersubjective reality occupies the category between objective facts (gravity, atoms) that exist independently of belief and subjective experiences (pain, beauty) that exist only within individual consciousness. Money has value because millions share the belief that it does. A corporation can own property because a legal system collectively treats this fictional entity as possessing rights. A passport opens borders because immigration officials share institutional recognition of its authority. Unlike objective reality, the intersubjective requires collective belief to exist. Unlike subjective reality, it shapes the world beyond any single mind. This order of reality makes civilization possible—it is the invisible architecture enabling cooperation among strangers at scales no other mechanism can achieve. The intersubjective is not a lesser reality but a constructed one, maintained through ongoing participation: argument, ritual, legislation, conversation, the daily acts of affirmation that keep shared fictions alive and responsive.
In The You On AI Field Guide
The maintenance of intersubjective reality requires genuine participation, not mechanical repetition. The meaning of 'justice'