# Nature of reality. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 6, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842 "2010-01-06T02:10:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/1 "2010-01-06T02:10:51Z")
Is it that there is nothing but energy bound into many states and that the Human experience is but an illusion? Or have I been reading too much Alan Watts? Am I to believe that I am God playing hide- and go seek- with myself? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/2 "2010-01-06T02:35:33Z")
Do you honestly think there is a factual answer to those questions? ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/3 "2010-01-06T02:38:43Z")
Yes/No Already self reported. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/4 "2010-01-06T02:41:29Z")
Moving to GD from GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/5 "2010-01-06T03:27:50Z")
Since illusions are a type of experience, it is nonsense to say that experience in general is an illusion. ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/6 "2010-01-06T03:48:17Z")
It makes perfect sense that njtt is me playing hide and go seek with himself/me/God. no? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/7 "2010-01-06T06:48:43Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > It makes perfect sense . . . Do you even know what this phrase means? ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/8 "2010-01-06T06:56:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do you even know what this phrase means? Touche! ---
**Author:** ![Claude\_Remains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/898d66/32.png) [@Claude\_Remains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claude_Remains)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/9 "2010-01-06T06:57:44Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Do you even know what this phrase means? MU ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/10 "2010-01-06T09:53:03Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > It makes perfect sense that njtt is me playing hide and go seek with himself/me/God. no? You haven’t caught me yet. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/11 "2010-01-06T10:26:51Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Is it that there is nothing but energy bound into many states and that the Human experience is but an illusion? The first could be false or true, maybe, but the second is true or false only depending on your point of view. For instance, as far as we know now, “solid” matter is anything but “solid”, at least in the sense of “entirely of one substance with no holes inside” (wordnet, sense 3). Does that mean that our experience of solidity is an illusion, or just that our definition of what it means for something to be solid is incorrect? No matter what, you still won’t be able to walk through a stone wall. ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/12 "2010-01-06T14:27:01Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Is it that there is nothing but energy bound into many states and that the Human experience is but an illusion? If it were an illusion, who would it be fooling? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2010, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nature-of-reality/523842/13 "2010-01-06T23:51:54Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#): > > Is it that there is nothing but energy bound into many states and that the Human experience is but an illusion? The human experience is the experience of experience the things that humans experience. The physical low-level assembly of the bits of reality is largely irrelevent - if I experience boredom, it matters not a whit that that boredom is ultimately the result of zipping energy particles, because the result of the zipping particles is still genuine boredom.