# Overcoming Solipsism **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 29, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778 "2020-04-29T01:00:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/1 "2020-04-29T01:00:44Z")
I’ve struggled with this ever since I came across it. The notion that all you can really be sure of is that you exist. It’s an idea that can’t be proven without refuting itself, but there is also no way to disprove it. I’ve been in a sort of grey area over this for the past few years and whenever this flares up I get this great divide between me and the rest of the world. It’s only myself that feels real and it’s hard to be “there” when around other people because I doubt whether they really exist or not. I’m not keen on the idea that the way out is to “believe”, since to me that sounds like a fairy tale. Like believing that other people exist and are real i sounds like I “lost the fight to it”. Sometimes I am overcome with terrible fear about the prospect of being alone in the universe and never having any meaningful relationships with another person. Even this is an act of faith, posting on here. But I feel like I am losing the fight here and I’m not sure how else to deal with this. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/2 "2020-04-29T01:24:34Z")
See, when I think of solipsism, I’m more inclined to think of the saying “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” That is, there’s some sort of “reality” out there, outside of you, which is being filtered by you. You’ll never be able to master that reality, but you can focus on, and learn to understand, that filter which constitutes your own impressions of reality. From my perspective, solipsism isn’t something to overcome. Instead, it’s a perspective by which you can better understand your perspective of the world - which is a mere guess that your brain is making based on the clues your senses are picking up. I guess YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/3 "2020-04-29T02:21:42Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > See, when I think of solipsism, I’m more inclined to think of the saying “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it.” That is, there’s some sort of “reality” out there, outside of you, which is being filtered by you. You’ll never be able to master that reality, but you can focus on, and learn to understand, that filter which constitutes your own impressions of reality. > > From my perspective, solipsism isn’t something to overcome. Instead, it’s a perspective by which you can better understand your perspective of the world - which is a mere guess that your brain is making based on the clues your senses are picking up. > > I guess YMMV. That’s not what solipsism is saying at all though. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/4 "2020-04-29T02:23:12Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > That’s not what solipsism is saying at all though. You’re right - it’s saying that I’m not real, and you are the only thing that exists. Forgive me. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/5 "2020-04-29T02:28:04Z")
If the sollipsistic worldview is false, what do you lose if you proceed as if it’s real but are wrong? If the sollipsistic worldview is real, what do you lose if you proceed as if it’s false but are wrong? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/6 "2020-04-29T02:42:35Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I’ve struggled with this ever since I came across it. The notion that all you can really be sure of is that you exist. It’s an idea that can’t be proven without refuting itself, but there is also no way to disprove it. > > I’ve been in a sort of grey area over this for the past few years and whenever this flares up I get this great divide between me and the rest of the world. It’s only myself that feels real and it’s hard to be “there” when around other people because I doubt whether they really exist or not. > > I’m not keen on the idea that the way out is to “believe”, since to me that sounds like a fairy tale. Like believing that other people exist and are real i sounds like I “lost the fight to it”. Sometimes I am overcome with terrible fear about the prospect of being alone in the universe and never having any meaningful relationships with another person. When you interact with what _seem_ to be other people, do they routinely say things that you didn’t expect them to say? Do they ever tell you jokes, only to (a) pause before the punchline just long enough for you to wonder where they’re going, and then (b) surprise you with a quip that makes you laugh? Do they mention stuff that you’d never realized before — and then, while you try to figure out what would follow from that insight, do they wait a bit to see if you’ll get it, only to patiently explain the rest when it becomes clear that, no, Part Two isn’t occurring to you either? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/7 "2020-04-29T03:05:53Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > When you interact with what _seem_ to be other people, do they routinely say things that you didn’t expect them to say?.. Ah, good point. I worked with an old guy who had a strong belief in Christian Science\*. Ol’ Vince had bought into the worldview that everything in our lives is just our imagination: “That guy over there? He only exists in your mind. This hot, dirty factory? Your imagination at work. Me? I don’t exist in the real world… only in your mind.” To which I almost replied that if any of that were true, I wouldn’t be sweating away my youth in that factory. Instead I laughed and said “Vince, if you were a product of my mind, you’d be younger, thinner, and more female.” \*Luckily, he had a sense of humor and liked the old joke: “Christian Scientists are like Grape-Nuts. You open the box… no grapes, no nuts.” ---
**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:** [April 29, 2020, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/8 "2020-04-29T03:47:51Z")
Forget the universe. Forget the world. Forget your city. Forget your college. Just think upon the Dope. Look inside your mind. Is it capable of imagining all of us and everything we say and all the experiences we’ve had that you haven’t and all the knowledge and wisdom and cultural events and crappy computer games and stupid sci-fi movies that we’re intimately familiar with, much of which from before you were born (which presumably you were although if you’re imagining the universe, you weren’t), and all the politics and commentary on COVID-19 and more philosophy than you have dreamt of? Is your brain truly omnipotent and omnipresent and all-encompassing, yet without any power whatsoever over all the figments of your own imagination? Solipsism is the silliest of all philosophical stances, and that’s really saying something. It’s also the easiest to disprove. Just walk outside. You didn’t do that. You didn’t do any of that. You couldn’t do any of that. Besides, since you think life is meaningless and you’re a little particle of worthless nothing, how do you square that with creating the entire universe including the notion of god (which you must be in a solipsistic universe)? Nuts. Repeat that the next time you hear the word solipsism. Loudly. It will do you a world of good. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/9 "2020-04-29T04:13:48Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Forget the universe. Forget the world. Forget your city. Forget your college. > > Just think upon the Dope. Look inside your mind. Is it capable of imagining all of us and everything we say and all the experiences we’ve had that you haven’t and all the knowledge and wisdom and cultural events and crappy computer games and stupid sci-fi movies that we’re intimately familiar with, much of which from before you were born (which presumably you were although if you’re imagining the universe, you weren’t), and all the politics and commentary on COVID-19 and more philosophy than you have dreamt of? Is your brain truly omnipotent and omnipresent and all-encompassing, yet without any power whatsoever over all the figments of your own imagination? Oh, that’s a good one; It’s incongruous to think that a mind would be able to imagine so much yet not exert much control over its own imaginings. When dreaming, you can sometimes wake yourself up within the dream and take control over your dream in a way that would constitute magical or supernatural powers. Unless, one presumes that what is creating what one perceives is external to us, like a futuristic VR peripheral that someone would have existed their whole life in. And now we’re in the brain-in-a-vat problem. Has Machina done that one yet? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/10 "2020-04-29T04:31:30Z")
This is how it is: > [@](#): > > all you can really be sure of is that you exist You don’t overcome it. You live with it. You proceed forward choosing to treat as “real” the things that seem most real to you, the things that you have the best evidence for and/or which click into place and resonate with the _rest_ of what you believe to be true — like, if you’ve decided you believe that gravity is real and behaves a certain way, an explanation of something else that is consistent with what you believe about gravity is going to resonate as most likely true if the alternative would seem to require that what we believe about gravity is wrong. But you remind yourself, often and seriously, that you might actually be wrong because you don’t have absolute certainty at any level. And occasionally you find that your structure of beliefs has sort of painted you into a corner and you have to _really_ go back and question stuff until you find an assumption that isn’t, in fact, correct. And then you have to rebuild with better assumptions in that area, assumpions that you’ve tested more thoroughly. The good news is that most of the assumption-rebuilding involves elaborating, replacing an oversimplification with something that’s at least partially consistent with what you used to believe. Take the gravity thing, for instance. It turns out that it doesn’t behave according to Newtonian assumptions after all, not _quite_. A guy named Einstein realized that. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/11 "2020-04-29T19:03:22Z")
When The Matrix came out, one reviewer referred to its central thesis as _“Dorm Room Metaphysics”._ I love that. I mean, who doesn’t have fond memories of sitting around with fellow teenagers playing _“Dude, what if the world is really like thiiiiisss…?”_ At our school, it always seemed to be about 2am, and the room was full of smoke. And wild conjectures. But at some point we all matured, picked a rational world view, traded the dorm room for an apartment… and the smoke for tasty beverages. (Oh, except for Chucko. He’s still playing _Dude, What If…_ makes it hard for him to deal with real people.) ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/12 "2020-04-29T19:38:22Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Even this is an act of faith, posting on here. But I feel like I am losing the fight here and I’m not sure how else to deal with this. If we’re just artifacts of your fevered imagination, write a post quoting what I’m thinking right now. If you’re right, a)I won’t be able to disagree with you, and, b) be quite impressed. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/13 "2020-04-29T22:55:25Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Forget the universe. Forget the world. Forget your city. Forget your college. > > Just think upon the Dope. Look inside your mind. Is it capable of imagining all of us and everything we say and all the experiences we’ve had that you haven’t and all the knowledge and wisdom and cultural events and crappy computer games and stupid sci-fi movies that we’re intimately familiar with, much of which from before you were born (which presumably you were although if you’re imagining the universe, you weren’t), and all the politics and commentary on COVID-19 and more philosophy than you have dreamt of? Is your brain truly omnipotent and omnipresent and all-encompassing, yet without any power whatsoever over all the figments of your own imagination? > > Solipsism is the silliest of all philosophical stances, and that’s really saying something. It’s also the easiest to disprove. Just walk outside. You didn’t do that. You didn’t do any of that. You couldn’t do any of that. > > Besides, since you think life is meaningless and you’re a little particle of worthless nothing, how do you square that with creating the entire universe including the notion of god (which you must be in a solipsistic universe)? > > Nuts. Repeat that the next time you hear the word solipsism. Loudly. It will do you a world of good. > **[How do I get out of solipsism syndrome?](https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-get-out-of-solipsism-syndrome)** > > Answer (1 of 23): I think that the easiest way to get out of this is to really step back and get some perspective. Now this is difficult, I know because I have been through the same thing you are probably going through, at least to some degree or... > **[How does one overcome solipsism?](https://www.quora.com/How-does-one-overcome-solipsism)** > > Answer (1 of 17): To the guy who said there are aspects to be gained from solipsism, they are wrong. There isn’t any benefits to solipsism as it’s essentially a philosophical dead end. > > We are in “simulation” in that reality is constructed according... > **[What if solipsism is true?](https://www.quora.com/What-if-solipsism-is-true)** > > Answer (1 of 24): At some level, solipsism must be true. > > At the most comprehensive level of what is, the all-encompassing, sum total of the Universe—the Universe’s perspective by definition I think has to be: “There is only me.” > > But at the opposite... > **[How can you theoretically reject solipsism?](https://www.quora.com/How-can-you-theoretically-reject-solipsism)** > > Answer (1 of 19): From a strictly theoretical (i.e., logical argument) standpoint, it seems hard to disprove. The rejection, I believe, is more based on pragmatism, and perhaps instinct. > > Possibly a theoretical argument could be constructed along the... > **[Does the entire solipsism theory bother you? As in, does it disturb you or...](https://www.quora.com/Does-the-entire-solipsism-theory-bother-you-As-in-does-it-disturb-you-or-does-the-fact-that-it-might-be-in-essence-true-make-you-feel-lonely)** > > Answer (1 of 3): Yes. It is very disturbing to think that everything you know, your reality, is a creation of the mind. That it only exists within you mind inside your head. It could be true since the only mind we live in is our own; nobody ever... I’ve been browsing for an answer to this issue but overall I seem to get mixed responses to it. You can’t disprove it but you can’t prove it either ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/14 "2020-04-29T23:06:10Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I’ve been browsing for an answer to this issue but overall I seem to get mixed responses to it. You can’t disprove it but you can’t prove it either Just to be clear: you think that, if it’s _false,_ then there are other minds who can do things you don’t expect, and who present you with stuff you’re not creative enough to come up with; and, if it’s _true,_ then you only seeeeeeeem to be interacting with other minds who do things you don’t expect, and you only seeeeeeeeem to lack the creativity they seeeeeeeeem to display. And you say it can’t be proven or disproven, because the difference between those two is indistinguishable. Is that right? ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/15 "2020-04-29T23:08:59Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Just to be clear: you think that, if it’s _false,_ then there are other minds who can do things you don’t expect, and who present you with stuff you’re not creative enough to come up with; and, if it’s _true,_ then you only seeeeeeeem to be interacting with other minds who do things you don’t expect, and you only seeeeeeeeem to lack the creativity they seeeeeeeeem to display. > > And you say it can’t be proven or disproven, because the difference between those two is indistinguishable. > > Is that right? I mean I can’t be sure, that’s the whole point of solipsism. I don’t want to buy into it because it would mean I am alone, and ignoring it isn’t working. I’ve tried browsing for answer but as I posted above I end up nowhere really: [https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-review-of-Solipsism](https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-review-of-Solipsism) ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/16 "2020-04-29T23:21:25Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I mean I can’t be sure, that’s the whole point of solipsism. I don’t want to buy into it because it would mean I am alone, and ignoring it isn’t working. Right, but, in one case, you’re not alone — where Not Being Alone means there are other minds who can do stuff you don’t expect, and who present you with ideas that you fail to come up with. And, in the other case, you’re alone — which means that what seem to be other minds, but _aren’t_, are busily doing stuff you don’t expect, and keep on presenting you with ideas that you fail to come up with; and _that,_ to you, is what Being Alone means: a situation so strikingly similar to Not Being Alone that you honestly _can’t tell the difference_. Is that what you’re saying? ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/17 "2020-04-29T23:21:42Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I mean I can’t be sure, that’s the whole point of solipsism. I don’t want to buy into it because it would mean I am alone, and **ignoring it isn’t working**. “Ignoring it” does work for almost everyone. If you can’t, you need to fix yourself.\* You will never be happy (or be a functioning human being) until you can learn to ignore all the… \*stuff \*floating around out there that isn’t helping you. Solipsism, Nihilism, Fundamentalism, Orthodox Anything… you need to ignore all the negative, paralyzing aspects of all the philosophies in the world. \*Sorry, rereading this, I should add that there’s no shame in saying “I can’t do this myself. I’ll get some help.” But haven’t we been telling you that for thread after thread that you’ve started? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/18 "2020-04-29T23:32:41Z")
[Relevant _Dark Star_ scene](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h73PsFKtIck) [**SPOILER**]. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/19 "2020-04-29T23:33:15Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I mean I can’t be sure, that’s the whole point of solipsism. I don’t want to buy into it because it would mean I am alone, and ignoring it isn’t working. > > I’ve tried browsing for answer but as I posted above I end up nowhere really: [https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-review-of-Solipsism](https://www.quora.com/What-is-your-review-of-Solipsism) Based strictly on your previous experiences with obsessive thoughts and beliefs with respect to extraordinary ideas, have they generally proven to be true or false? What is the one constant across all those dilemmas? Given previous outcomes, which of the two possibilities is it most likely to be on this occasion? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2020, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778/20 "2020-04-29T23:53:46Z")
Personally, I think the problem with solipsism is simply, what evidence do I have that I exist. Or you, as the case may not be. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/overcoming-solipsism/852778.md?page=2)