# How do you own a piece of reality? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 16, 2018, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184 "2018-06-16T01:08:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184/21 "2018-06-17T11:46:11Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > It was something that I heard mentioned at one point and it has bothered me ever since. It’s like how do we rationalize owning any part of reality? What right or claim do we really have to anything and how can we say that something is “mine”? > > I think there are some schools of thought that refer to the concept of ownership as a form of self deception. I remember Buddhism saying something about it. Do you own your own body? Are your hands yours? Do you have possession of your own senses? ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184/22 "2018-06-17T12:09:46Z")
“Ownership” is simply a convention of convenience we human-shaped pieces of “reality” use as part of our mechanism for interacting with the rest of “reality”. In a sense, sure, I may “own” a physical object. Let’s say a ball. Society says that I have certain rights to it and my possession of it gives me the ability to affect how that ball is used or even if I want it destroyed. But I don’t maintain absolute “ownership” of the reality of that ball in any sort of metaphysical sense. I can’t make it behave in ways that contradict the physical laws. The ball doesn’t know it’s “mine” and will behave the same regardless of who picks it up. But as a practical matter, it’s my ball and I’m keeping it! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2018, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184/23 "2018-06-17T18:37:12Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > It starts with labor. I own my own labor, because I control it. I decide whether or not to produce anything, what I produce, how I produce it, etc. Then I trade my labor for the products of the labor of others, and thereby gain control over it, and transfer control of the products of my labor to them. Therefore I own what I own, by right of the fact that I traded for it. > > Regards, > Shodan This is just repeating the claim that ownership is a social construct. Thousands of societies throughout human history have worked just fine without individual ownership. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2018, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184/24 "2018-06-18T00:55:58Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > This is just repeating the claim that ownership is a social construct. Thousands of societies throughout human history have worked just fine without individual ownership. Many have also operated under the construct that people actually don’t own their labor (i.e. “slaves” or “serfs”). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-own-a-piece-of-reality/816184.md?page=1)