Solipsism

[StevenM]

Awhile ago, I briefly ran into this philosophy, it struck a chord with me, because at one time, I was a huge believer of it even though I hadn't ever heard of it's name.

In case someone doesn't know, Solipsism is a belief that everything you experience is merely a product of your consciousness.

Ok, bad way of describing it.

The dictionary says that .."a theory in philosophy that your own existence is the only thing that is real or that can be known"

I like this video, which kinda describes it in a neat way (well, it leads up to it).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L45Q1_psDqk

As of now, I'm on the fence about it. It is much better to be a realist, basically because it's more natural and healthy to do. What are your opinions?

 

[Bock]

solipsism is kindergarten-tier "philosophy"

 

[The Grey Man]

The dictionary says that .."a theory in philosophy that your own existence is the only thing that is real or that can be known"

That we "know" of and are able to talk about our existence indicates that it is one of many things that we know of and are able to talk about, nothing more. What's more is that this ability is common to most humans.

 

[louiesgonnadie]

Ultimately, this sounds accurate as fuck.

 

[Cognisant]

Grayman has it right.

I exist therefore I am, but what am I?
People presume much of their existence, we think that because we can think we must be more than merely things, but we do many things that other mere things do so what makes thinking so special?

Awareness is entirely dependant upon memory, the majority of the operations the brain performs are subconscious and they're not conscious because you can't remember them, so it's entirely possible that anything capable of reading memory could be tricked into believing it possess a capacity for reasoning and experiencing that it actually dosen't, kind of like a character in a book having an introspective monologue.

 

[QuickTwist]

Hey cog, that makes me one of the stupidest members on the forum. I have selective memory.

 

[StevenM]

True reality is
-blank and dark
-completely silent
-untouchable

but then once it is made to be seen, heard, and touched,
it becomes less of it's true identity. It loses it's reality.

***************
I don't have much doubt that there actually is a reality. I believe there is something beyond our mind. Our senses, much like an oscilloscope, or any other probing instrument used to gather information, is the best thing we've got to observing it. It may not be entirely accurate in terms of what reality actually and truly is (think optical illusions), but nonetheless, the senses have evolved to provide the most practical interpretation of what is around us.

 

[JimJambones]

My mind exists, and by extension, it seems reasonable that other minds exists. All of our minds are subjective and our understanding of the world around us is through this subjective prism. What we think of as objectivity is but a collective subjectivity, like one large subjective human mind. But, ultimately, who the fuck knows?

 

[Cognisant]

Hey cog, that makes me one of the stupidest members on the forum. I have selective memory.

I don't see the connection.

 

[QuickTwist]

My mind exists, and by extension, it seems reasonable that other minds exists. All of our minds are subjective and our understanding of the world around us is through this subjective prism. What we think of as objectivity is but a collective subjectivity, like one large subjective human mind. But, ultimately, who the fuck knows?

Put another way, the human existence is essentially like looking in that oscilloscope. We have such limited knowledge of reality I find it utterly disgusting to just say "The world is big so nothing must exist." Its throwing the baby out with the bath water.

I don't see the connection.

I have a shit memory and it is also very selective. Furthermore, I have not dedicated any significant amount of time memorizing anything, or in this case, learning, so I would by your definition be borderline retarded relatively speaking to the rest of the forum.

 

[StevenM]

I have selective memory.

Almost everybody does. I mean, memory that is flawed, biased, incomplete, and distorted. Unless a person has a perfect eidetic memory. I don't know if that actually exists though.

Actually, I think having a somewhat imperfect memory is what helps in keeping people sane (ironically).

 

[QuickTwist]

Then I am truly a miracle because I both have a terrible memory and I am bat shit crazy.

[insert religious reference here]

J/K I'm not religious in the slightest.

 

[Cognisant]

I have a shit memory too but I define intelligence as the adaptation of thought/behaviour to achieve an optimal state, to that end having more memory would be useful but if you forget a lot because you're thinking a lot and thus constantly overwriting your memories with ones well that's not a lack of adaptation, quite the opposite, you're too clever for your own good

 

[QuickTwist]

LOL

Still, that is not what is the first original point made though. I forgot by whom though. LOL

[Edit] Basically, you're circumventing the issue originally stated.

 

[JimJambones]

I enjoyed that video.

So are we rubbing our scent all over this forum as a mark of our own existence?

 

[QuickTwist]

lol... no really I found that hilarious. IDK. I just like thinking and most importantly sharing my opinion so I can be validated. I am a shallow bastard after all. I like to talk. I don't get out much... meh.

[Edit] I'm also clinically diagnosed as a form of crazy. I kid you not.

 

[JimJambones]

lol... no really I found that hilarious. IDK. I just like thinking and most importantly sharing my opinion so I can be validated. I am a shallow bastard after all. I like to talk. I don't get out much... meh.

I'm not sure if your post was in response to mine or not. It seems like it was. I was just making a random comment about the video and not about what was posted above me. It's all good though.

 

[QuickTwist]

Yes, its all good. I'm not perturbed if you're not.

 

[JimJambones]

no perturbation here

 

[QuickTwist]

Ha! you made it funny. Good then you know how to make jokes... and dirty ones at that. QT approves. [that last bit is just for the laughs]

 

[StevenM]

I enjoyed that video.

So are we rubbing our scent all over this forum as a mark of our own existence?

I took the cat rubbing his scent on the keyboard as something figurative.

The cat cannot even begin to comprehend the keyboard's true purpose, all he knows is that it's fun to lay on and such....

Much like humans cannot even begin to comprehend the Universe, besides that it is fun to frolic in, and ask questions about and such.

Actually, I need a different word than Universe, reality, or whatever it is that we can't comprehend....

....whatever lies outside the pheneron.

 

[somebodiesfool]

This makes sense scientifically given the implications of quantum mechanics.

 

[QuickTwist]

Solipsism is repulsive to me. Its very nature is egotism. I reject the idea. and 2.5 PT?!?! That seems really really small. Pretty soon PCs will be smarter than humans by that line of thought.

 

[Vrecknidj]

I've never met a solipsist I didn't like.

 

[thoughtfully]

If everything is a product of just my consciousness aren't I going to be miserable? I'm not going to be able to make sense of things that have no business coming into my narrow mind.

In the film Blade Runner one of the character has memories implanted in her mind. She got all mixed up and depressed since she figured out they were fake.

 

[nanook]

I'm loosing memories and sometimes also momentarily my subjective attachment to memories, in those moments my favorite images (art collection) don't look like mine anymore, my face on photos doesn't look like mine (and i see more of what it has in common with other faces, than what is distinctly unique about it, or less of the latter).

solipsism (it's all about me, the world as my antagonist and projection) makes no sense, as an absolute model, because there is nobody here who owns this, any of this world of form stuff, thus it can't possibly all be "mine", it can't exist for the sake of "mine" solely, if 'me' and 'mine' is just a fleeting instable detail that comes and goes inside of it.

however solipsism is a particular state of mind, that can occur.

it's perhaps exactly the opposite of loosing subjective attachments. when the soul becomes intuitively aware of the whole sum of attachments, then the world you know feels like it's an entity of sorts, with a story to it. the story of your soul. and it appears to move in a manner that is not relative to anything else. it's the only story that is going on. everything seems to relate to this story, when you are in this state of mind. to me it feels evil, like damnation, like i carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, like i am prometheus, the thief of all life but i know i shouldn't be, it's too much to handle, i don't know what i am doing after all, so the stolen good is a burden cracking my spine, following me everywhere i go, i can't "unsteal" it, it won't be forgiven. i think this may be something like a moment of egocentric psychosis, that occurs right before ego death. because the only thing that can technically witness the entire drama of egocentricity (without projecting a fair share of egocentricity on all other human antagonists and pretending that it's just reacting to a higher law) is the thing that is beyond ego. nevertheless, there is still an egoic witness in this state, who thinks that this is his problem and burden, his karma. those are lucid nightmares that have occurred to me occasionally.

i'm writing this from memory, it might be inaccurate, it's damn hard to remember an altered state of mind anyways.

 

[Black Rose]

To know that i exist is the same as knowing source. Source is a relationship all thing have to each other. So what i know is my impressions of what i have within but by inference i can know what is without. I can know what a triangle is so in the same way i can know another mind exists. They would be an inference from what i experience within. I create them the same way they create me. It is a reflections of inter-subjectivity which has a mathematical identity. If i can know math i can know the Noumenon. Not only is it possible that i can know but it is inevitable. This is not a belief it is a metaphysical certainty. My identity is identical to the mathematical properties and these mathematical properties include the knowledge of other mathematical entity's. It tells me that if i am mathematical in my identity i am also able to realize all mathematical objects as recursion and so am a subset of all identity. All identity exists and this is the platonic notion of The One. Higher truths can be known according to my identity.