Topic: Solipsism

[VulturEMaN]

They thought that the artist that painted "A Starry Night" had major mental problems. And he did.

But he could see the wind and windcurrents...and yes, that was scientifically proven....

[Shinya]

Schizophrenics and the insane know more than we ever will.

Us maniacs seem to drown ourselves in thoughts normal people wouldn't think. Especially when we find ourselves cornered in many an unorthodox internal quandary.

[AppleNick]

I've been reading about a theory called solipsism, and I'm getting really interested into this. WordNet describes it as "the philosophical theory that the self is all that you know to exist." Basically, everything you encounter is just, in a simple terms, a dream. It's as if we're all playing some sort of virtual reality game, in which everything is not real and the product of our own minds.

We do not know what other people think, right? So, how do we know they think at all? We don't! As another little teaser, how do I know you see the same colors I see? What I see as blue, you may see what I call "red". There is no way of telling. So, there are many different facets of this theory.

My question is: Is this theory really plausible? There are many responses and opponents of this theory. I myself am not totally certain this is real. But by doubting this is a true theory, I am believing in it. The theory states that nothing can be known but one's own self. So... your opinion?

I always thought of this to be possible. I didn't know it had a name. It sounds impossible to prove or disprove.

[VulturEMaN]

I really wish that philosophy was more popular in high school...

Kids should be forced to read Kant and Plato....

[Thomas]

There is no spoon. 

[VulturEMaN]

Both of my boogers are yummy. But you only get one.

[Thomas]

Both of my boogers are yummy. But you only get one.

 

[aligirl]

I very well understand the thing about how what I see as blue, you may see as something else, but we call it the same thing and think they're the same. But the rest of this whole thing is real confusing...

[spongehead 32]

I very well understand the thing about how what I see as blue, you may see as something else, but we call it the same thing and think they're the same. But the rest of this whole thing is real confusing...

There is a man named Descartes (DAY-CART) who wanted to see if it was possible to doubt the existence of everything, he went about it like this.

Descartes's first wave of doubt

He started with our senses, it is common knowledge that sometimes our senses deceive us, when you put a pencil into water it appears to bend when it actually hasn't changed shape and from a far distance you may see a tower that looks round but up close you find that it is square. From this he stated that since our senses deceive us it is logically possible that the world around us could all be a deception.

However it was pointed out to him that in ideal conditions there is no reason for us to believe that our senses are always wrong so he moved on to his second wave.

Descartes's second wave of doubt

He then thought about the world of dreams and how during a dream it is very hard to tell that it is a dream, from this he said that the world around us may be nothing more than a dream.

However, dreams are like paintings in that they reflect the truth, for example two and two will make four in a dream just as well as they make four in the waking world so with this wave it was impossible to doubt everything, which brought him to his third wave.

Descartes's third wave of doubt

Everything around us is a trick from evil demons (don't laugh). There are demons around us which control everything, when you look at a chair it is the evil demon which makes you think that you are looking at a chair, when you add two and two to make four it is the evil demon tricking your mind into thinking that it makes four when possibly in reality it makes five, when you talk to someone it is the evil demon tricking you into thinking that someone is there to talk to,. It is the evil demon which deceives you into believing there is a world around you when in fact there is nothing around you.

With this idea, Descartes was able to doubt the existence of the world around him and everyone he met, even that he has a body (evil demon tricking him in to believing that he has a body). However, he couldn't doubt the existence of his mind. In order for the evil demon to deceive his mind, there had to be a mind that could be deceived and from this he decided that all he could prove he was, was a mind, a thinking thing. In other words "I think, therefore I am".

[John13]

This could prove very interesting, as every one in this thread could be contained inside my head, a figment of my imagination.

[IceFox]

Solipsism is philosophy. Philosophy is bullshit.

Case closed.

[VulturEMaN]

wow that's a pretty crappy view

[Patback399]

Solipsism is philosophy. Philosophy is bullshit.

Case closed.

Philosophy is art. Some can appreciate it and create beauty and wonder. Some can pass it off as pointless and irrelevant to everything.

[John13]

IceFox just likes to disagree with my.

[IceFox]

IceFox just likes to disagree with my.

Errr, no.


Philosophy is interesting however serves little purposes. All it is is asking infinite questions that do not affect us noticeably in any way. Why would I care to know if I truly have free will or if it's just my my mind playing tricks on me? I don't. If anything, learning (and proving) that I do not have free will would make my life worse. And don't call it education because it isn't. It isn't a solid fact, it isn't something that can be proven (and no, I am not contradicting myself here with the fact that I believe in God) and has no use. I don't see philosophy as art at all, I see it as an unneeded way to use brain power. If people want to study it, go ahead, it's not my problem.

wow that's a pretty crappy view

Elaborate.