“When we go outside the sphere of perception and declare that such-and-such “really” takes place we are always moving upward, not downward; we are constructing a pyramid of linguistic objects and it is only because of the optical illusion that it seems to us we are going deeper into the realm which lies beneath sensory experience. To put it metaphorically, the plane that separates sensory experience from reality is absolutely impervious; and when we attempt to discern what is going on beneath it we see only the upside-down reflection of the pyramid of theories.”

—Valentin Turchin, The Phenomenon of Science, p.232