Classic Cartesean philosophical question reintroduced to the general public via the movie the Matrix. (This is not an invitation to debate, this is just a survey.)
Dilemma: As illustrated in the Matrix, there is arguably no way to know whether reality as we perceive it is “real” or whether we are simply living within a computer simulation. You could be a brain in a vat, or on a holodeck on some alien planet, in a dream, or you could be a human organism living on a rock hurtling through space with other human organisms.
So please raise your hand if you think Reality is an illusion…Or please share with us if you seriously entertain the possibility of it being so.
I’m not sure, but when I tried to drive to Arizona there was a big road-block, and when I looked up there were all these green lines where the world kind of disappeared off into space.
suppose you are in a room with another person and the whole thing is “imaginary” that means your nose is imaginary and the other persons hands are imaginary. suppose this person makes an imaginary fist and breaks your imaginary nose. the resulting pain will be “imaginary.”
now the question is does “imaginary” pain hurt less than REAL pain?
is playing games with words in your head truly intelligent?
when you can find a real that IS more REAL, then real is imaginary. let me know.
Well, reality is there, or rather, here. But what exactly is reality? Is it what we’re looking at, or how we see it? The senses (5 or 6 depending on your views) relay information to the brain, and then the brain does the interpretation with reality being the result.
Nope. Nothing is real. I’m all right with that. You see, there’s this wonderful concept of willing suspension of disbelief that makes the play soooo much more entertaining.
During intermission when I’m sitting home alone and sucking down gin, I examine the nature of the brilliant, beautiful and terrifying illusions that I witness. However, during the heat of the action and the thrilling excitement of living, I work under the assumption that what I perceive does in fact exist. I allow myself to be convinced that the world is real and that I have a real place in it so that I can better enjoy the show.
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Crown Prince of Irony *
**
Ah, well, don’t know, as I am not that hypothetical person.
Although sometimes I do feel rather blind and/or stupid.
Nevertheless, “others” seem to exist and confirm my general impressions. I also have an internal means of verification. There is a definite loss of visual resolution in my dreams, although, paradoxically, I often seem to be more intelligent and skilled in my dreams than in “reality”. I can speak much better French in my dreams, for one thing.
Dal_timgar: I am not disputing that “reality” whether “real” or a controlled simulation of some sort, must be delt with pragmatically. Yes real or not, pain is pain, and we must deal with it.
My point is-we could be living within a Matrix like simulated world. Yes, this is a VERY old philosophical question. I was just asking if anyone takes this question seriously.
You may feel considering this question is playing games with words in one’s head. I assume in saying this you are trying to say it is a waste of time and irrelevant. Personally, I find it a very interesting question and I find it valuable to ponder and discuss it. If you don’t feel the same…then feel free to not discuss it with me.
As I recall, Decarte got out of the “everything but me is an illusion” problem by proving the existence of God, and then insisting that God, being by definition “good”, wouldn’t fuck around with us like that. Personally, I see some problems with this theory.
So I’ll have to remain a solipsist.
In fact, considering solipsism is the only truely reasonable philosophy, I can’t understand why there aren’t more people like me.
And then there’s the old Chinese riddle (don’t remember exactly who wrote it.) “Am I a man dreaming of a butterfly, or a butterfly dreaming of being a man?”
When I was a kid, I was convinced that we lived under a dome of some kind because the clouds always looked more painted-on than real. Maybe I should sue the studio that put out The Truman Show for infringing on my intellectual property?
Illusions are real so reality is real, real is real is real. Also I want to debate the possibility of flying monkeys operating the matrix.(evil flying monkeys)
Reality is solipsist, in that one’s brain tells him what reality is. To paraphrase Will Smith’s character from Six Degrees of Separation, insanity is when what is in one’s head does not match what is out there in the “real world.” When one’s reality does not match, obviously, he is therefore deemed insane by the rest of society, and more or less cast out. Therefore, whatever the collective body of humanity perceives of real is, for all logistical purposes, really real, whether or not it truly is.
Until, as Dal puts it, something more real than real is produced, the world we perceive of reality is real and should be dealt with as such as there is no real choice open to us, short of answering every ringing telephone there is and hoping. Of course doing that would be insane behavior, because this, in turn, is hoping for a reality that is not the reality of the prevailing body of humanity. So unless we want to be thrown in the loony bin, we might as well accept our reality as the real thing and sit back and wait until The Matrix 2 comes out and presents us all with the truth.
Note to all: Sorry 'bout the rambling; I like stream of consciousness exercises which, to me, this was.
Whatever I call reality is a personal contruct, and from my experience, each individual’s construct only matches in generalities with any other.
My case for reality is that there is far more detail than is strictly necessary to satisfy my mind of the world’s existence. I’ve been to that part of the construct known as “France”; why is it so different from my current location? I’ve been to that part of the construct known as “Angola”; different yet, and seemingly less well developed, but still the same level of detail. Why such a different representation of culture, of technology in these “places”?
Why was I able to choose between Courvoisier and Remy Martin tonight? Why are my senses currently so altered from the non-cognac-imbibing state?
Why will I be so embarrassed tomorrow to realize that I posted these words publicly?
All these things argue against an externally imposed construct.
