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 Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 2:28 pm
Solipsism is the metaphysical theory that you can't prove anything else exists but ourselves.
We don't know anyone else's mind, we only know our own mind. We know for sure that our own mind exists because we would have to have a mind to think, but we can't be sure that anything else exists, because everything else might be an illusion created by our mind, and when we do something, our mind automatically creates a logical responce. No one can prove that anything exists but themselves, since the only person who they truly know is themselves.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:59 pm
Solipsism is weak tautology. People cling to it because it is "hip," rather than because it holds any worth.
To hold to solipsism, you would have to hold you exist. There is no justification for this belief.
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Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 10:37 pm
what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. If it is fake it is still acting as though it is real, reacting to you accordingly.
I never really liked Solipsism as it always seemed both a wasteful mental exercise and a way to make a person feel above or more then others. In the end, does it matter if I exist or not if I can still force your own mind to react a certain way? If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg?
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 12:13 am
dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. No I don't. dragonmatt5 If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? What bullet?
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:26 am
To answer your question, no, you are not the only thing that exists. I am. smile
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:30 am
I have no reason to believe anything exists, including myself.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:25 am
dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. If it is fake it is still acting as though it is real, reacting to you accordingly. I never really liked Solipsism as it always seemed both a wasteful mental exercise and a way to make a person feel above or more then others. In the end, does it matter if I exist or not if I can still force your own mind to react a certain way? If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? There is no point to it, because even if I was the only person who exists, that doesn't change the world around me, because I would still feel pain. And asking what the point in solipsism, is like asking what the point in philosophy is. Solipsism is just fun to think about. Same thing with philosophy. To most people it doesn't matter 'what lies beyond what we cannot see'. But to us, it matters. To us it matters what is hidden in life, so that is why solipsism matters.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 9:26 am
zz1000zz Solipsism is weak tautology. People cling to it because it is "hip," rather than because it holds any worth. To hold to solipsism, you would have to hold you exist. There is no justification for this belief. Yeah I know solipsism is pointless, it is just quite fun for me to think about ^.^
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 4:51 pm
Requiem of Immanence dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. If it is fake it is still acting as though it is real, reacting to you accordingly. I never really liked Solipsism as it always seemed both a wasteful mental exercise and a way to make a person feel above or more then others. In the end, does it matter if I exist or not if I can still force your own mind to react a certain way? If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? There is no point to it, because even if I was the only person who exists, that doesn't change the world around me, because I would still feel pain. If you believe the pain exists, you do not truly accept solipsism. Requiem of Immanence Yeah I know solipsism is pointless, it is just quite fun for me to think about ^.^ I did not say it was pointless. I can accept pointlessness far better than I can accept solipsism. Solipsism is weak tautology, and it annoys me with its hypocrisy. It annoys me to hear, "Nothing exists, except myself" because there is no reason for the latter statement. Descartes was a hack.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:11 pm
zz1000zz dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. No I don't. dragonmatt5 If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? What bullet? If you exist in the false reality, you either follow the rules of the false reality or cease to be within it. If you breathe your interacting with the false reality, regardless if your actually breathing or just under the illusion your breathing. Stop breathing, you stop interacting with the reality shortly enough. Of course I would just call that death, as death seems to be the only means of leaving, if in fact it is a fake reality. Then again even that may only be an illusion. The bullet that causes the reaction of pain. If you stop feeling pain, well, good luck with that. Real or fact, observed reality acts real. If fake it's purpose seems to be to convince you it is real. Real or fake, the bullet will still cause the reaction, the feeling of pain will still be generated. If your strong enough break free of the rules of the fake reality, I am sure you already would have.
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 6:54 pm
zz1000zz Requiem of Immanence dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. If it is fake it is still acting as though it is real, reacting to you accordingly. I never really liked Solipsism as it always seemed both a wasteful mental exercise and a way to make a person feel above or more then others. In the end, does it matter if I exist or not if I can still force your own mind to react a certain way? If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? There is no point to it, because even if I was the only person who exists, that doesn't change the world around me, because I would still feel pain. If you believe the pain exists, you do not truly accept solipsism. Requiem of Immanence Yeah I know solipsism is pointless, it is just quite fun for me to think about ^.^ I did not say it was pointless. I can accept pointlessness far better than I can accept solipsism. Solipsism is weak tautology, and it annoys me with its hypocrisy. It annoys me to hear, "Nothing exists, except myself" because there is no reason for the latter statement. Descartes was a hack. No, solpsism is not the belief that themselves IS the only thing that exists, solipsism is the belief that you cannot prove anyone exists but yourself. There is a major difference. The whole point of solipsism is that there is no way to prove that anything or anyone exists but themselves. A soliptist doesn't have to believe that they are the only person who exists, but they do have to believe that there is no way to prove that anyone else exists. (Sorry for compulsivly repeating the basic point of this entry)
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Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 11:40 pm
Requiem of Immanence zz1000zz Requiem of Immanence dragonmatt5 what is the point though? Be it real or not you still have to deal with the world around you just the same. If it is fake it is still acting as though it is real, reacting to you accordingly. I never really liked Solipsism as it always seemed both a wasteful mental exercise and a way to make a person feel above or more then others. In the end, does it matter if I exist or not if I can still force your own mind to react a certain way? If a bullet is not really real, does that stop the pain your mind would make you feel if it hit you in the leg? There is no point to it, because even if I was the only person who exists, that doesn't change the world around me, because I would still feel pain. If you believe the pain exists, you do not truly accept solipsism. Requiem of Immanence Yeah I know solipsism is pointless, it is just quite fun for me to think about ^.^ I did not say it was pointless. I can accept pointlessness far better than I can accept solipsism. Solipsism is weak tautology, and it annoys me with its hypocrisy. It annoys me to hear, "Nothing exists, except myself" because there is no reason for the latter statement. Descartes was a hack. No, solpsism is not the belief that themselves IS the only thing that exists, solipsism is the belief that you cannot prove anyone exists but yourself. There is a major difference. The whole point of solipsism is that there is no way to prove that anything or anyone exists but themselves. A soliptist doesn't have to believe that they are the only person who exists, but they do have to believe that there is no way to prove that anyone else exists. (Sorry for compulsivly repeating the basic point of this entry) You missed the primary point by focusing on an issue of semantics. Yes, when I said "Nothing exists, except myself," I did not give a completely accurate description. It should have been, "I do not know anything exists, except myself." The distinction here was irrelevant, so I did not think it was necessary to add a distinction both people already knew. The conflict is you do not have a way to know you exist. Solipsism rejects unnecessary assumptions, save one. This seems extremely silly to me, when it is quite possible to reject all assumptions. dragonmatt5 If you exist in the false reality, you either follow the rules of the false reality or cease to be within it. If you breathe your interacting with the false reality, regardless if your actually breathing or just under the illusion your breathing. Stop breathing, you stop interacting with the reality shortly enough. Of course I would just call that death, as death seems to be the only means of leaving, if in fact it is a fake reality. Then again even that may only be an illusion. For what it is worth, I do not believe I am breathing at the moment. dragonmatt5 The bullet that causes the reaction of pain. If you stop feeling pain, well, good luck with that. Real or fact, observed reality acts real. If fake it's purpose seems to be to convince you it is real. Real or fake, the bullet will still cause the reaction, the feeling of pain will still be generated. If your strong enough break free of the rules of the fake reality, I am sure you already would have. There are people who are incapable of feeling pain, so clearly pain cannot be used as a test for reality's application to an individual. Of course, there is no actual test for such anyway, so that should hardly be surprising. The idea of willful delusions is quite interesting. The subject is hard to discuss though, as it tends to draw labels of "insanity" and such.
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 4:06 pm
I revert to that philosophy sometimes, but I always rectify it by thinking that other people have minds just as functional as mine. Though I may never know what they're thinking, I still believe that all people are interconnected and we all exist as one system.
And I just thought of this:
Existence is relavite to the perceiver.
On a final note:
"I think, therefore I am."
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Posted: Sat May 30, 2009 4:07 pm
That's a great excuse for narcissism.
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Posted: Sun May 31, 2009 4:07 am
Jerba On a final note: "I think, therefore I am." This is one of the most meaningless statements to have become popular. Descartes was such a hack.
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