Philosophy What is reality?

What is reality? Is it an illusion? A dream? One of those dumb TV shows? Just a thought.

But seriously, what is reality?

I can't come up with anything else to say, so I'll leave that to you.

 

Reality is life it is around us and its something we all must accept.Tho some of us wont.

 

But, how do you know that the life you live is actually reality? What makes you so certain that it is?

Shinryu-Departing with a thought: How long until Neph jumps on this?

 

Well to think I dont know if the life I live is reality, but to me it seems like a reality even if it is a dream somebody has to be dreaming and by golly they have been asleep for a long time.

 

Of course, all of that could be merely an illusion. Your memories, your experiences, your feelings, it's quite possible that none of them are truly real.

[EDIT]Remember Rip Van Winkle? He slept for what? 70 years?[/EDIT]

 

You can still believe that these things are true, but you can also say that since you can not prove them then they are open to doubt. I brought up a lot of Descartes in the past on boards.jp... Anyways, you should read it for yourself and try to point out any logical flaws he may have made: http://www.classicallibrary.org/descartes/meditations/.

Really the Cartesian circle has been brought up(which disproved his proof for God's existence). But, his idea that everything around us could be fake brought up many questions. Which is why Descartes is considered the father of modern philosophy.

 

rip van winkle slept for 20 years......

and reality. there is nothing of the sort. we live in time which as we know has a fabric of illusion to it. in having this, you yourself can manipulate reality. many say that your mind is more powerful when it is at its full then the universe is. i think the japanese came up with this concept, so that makes me think of all their animes based on psychic powers..............

but i believe reality is what we are in now. what we "believe" we are in.
but alot of times strange things happen, and you cant explain them, so those moments always get me to thinking about who caused it, not what. besause if the japanese are right, then with one persons mind, there could be interesting outcomes.~

 

How do you know it isn't?

Now, as far as reality goes... Reality is simply the true form of everything. However, our perception of reality is skewed and I doubt we ever truly know reality 100%. Time itself skews perception (both literally and figuratively); as do emotions, cultural practices and a host of other things.

 

I KNEW you couldn't resist Neph!

Anyway, I never said specifiaclly said life isn't reality. I simply questioned his percetion of it. How can he be so sure that his perception of things is "reality?" How can you be sure that what you see is really truth?

Ie. Color. We all see it. We all know it. But, how do we know that the colors we see are the same as the colors others see? I mean, the names should be a dead ringer, right? But. What if the color you see as purple is the color I see as green? How do you prove something like that? By my perception, I could see green and say it's green. But, you would see that same shade, and you would see it as my perception of purple. However, in your mind, it is still green.

That is my point. The "facts," the "truths," that we all know. How can we be sure that they are what they are? How can we be sure that others see it the way we do?

 

i like your idea shinryu ^__^

 

Okay, Morpheus, let's try it like this. ;P Just to go with the flow of cynicism and such... how do you know that the life you live is NOT actually reality? XD

Though now that I type this I see that Neph has beat me to the punch (you dirty, stinkin', cheatin' person).

A-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-anyways, this seems more like a "Faith" sort of thing. Just, believe what you believe. You don't really need proof, because there really isn't any. It's kind of like questioning "How do you know God really exists?"... though I think in this day and age, with your example Shinryu, there would be someone who would've found something like that out, or quite a few people.

I can't remember where I heard this quote, but I just thought it was interesting... I think it went a little something like "The lack of proof is proof". Sounds like a religious excuse to me, but ehhhh. XD

Though at this point, what with Shinryu questioning nearly every post, I'm kind of curious as to what you think.

(NOTE: And, lucky, if you're going to post at least contribute a little bit to the conversation instead of just "i like your idea", please. Just a friendly suggestion.)

 

hey amon, do you like dissing otherpeoples thoughts and beliefs? is it so hard to be nice when you comment?

 

Does it matter as long we both identify the right shade as the right shade? I could care less if purple appears as green to them and vice versa as long as it doesn't impede them (but given the scientific process behind our colour processing, this is a moot question save for certain types of colour blind people)

 

Reality, thats a tough question. If you see a mirage in the middle of the dessert, what if thats reality and your life is a mirage. Or what if your dreams are your life, and your life is a dream. Like if you were to see six purple octopusss pulling a wagon while whistling Old MC Donald in your dreams, it would seem real, you probaly wouldnt even give it a second glance. But if you were to see that while you were awake you would scream and think what the hell is going on. Maby reality is what we have been raised around, like someone said on here, that reality is what lies around us. If we were to see those six purple octopusses pulling a wagon while whistling Old MC Donald everyday, we would think that is reality, not a dream not a mirage but reality. So it sometimes seems as though we can have two realities.
Reality 500 years ago is very different from now days, and how about reality 1000000 years ago? the creatures and humans in those ages would probaly think that our time is nothing but an illusion or a dream. and another thing, what if in a parrelel universe, our reality, is a dream??????

my brain hurts from thinking that, i hope i get good karma, and i like the purple octopusses

 

You woant to know what I think reality is? Well... not what I want it to be.

Despite how I may contradict myself here, I think reality is the day-to-day life that we all live. Each day that passes is another slice of reality. Reality is. It is not something that can easily be analyzed. I can't think of anything more about it right now, so...

Interesting. You read my example, and saw only what was in front of you. The message behind it was left unnoticed. What I was trying to say was that reality is different for all of us. Each of us sees it in a different way. Since you cannot see reality through the eyes of another, you cannot know what it is to them. This thread was intended to bring together the ideas of several to (hopefully) provide a new perspective to view it from.

 

There is no true way to define reality, because you only know your reality, and are unable to see how others interpret reality. Because of this, you do not know if reality exists, if what you are seeing is reality, if what you feel, taste, smell, touch, or if you are a part of reality at all. On the flip side, the opposite is true. So it's really a stalemate standpoint.

 

i guess i'd have to agree with that. i always get my dreams mixed up with real life so well, sometimes i just don't know what reality is...

 

The five senses define reality, unless we are numb; then, we can't really tell.

 

Perhaps reality isn't.

Perhaps we really ARE just the dreams and thoughts of a higher power, and the presence of the mind of that higher power is what gives us religion. Perhaps we wake up everyday to a new day fabricated by that higher power..

Have you ever found that you're missing socks, and you don't know where they went? Well, perhaps the higher power forgot to think about your socks today, and you are thus sockless. The sock gnomes that supposedly live in your laundry room are in all actually just results of the higher power's inablility to keep up with all of your unimportant belongings.

Thank God that the higher power can keep up with big things like TVs and Tables.. Imagine waking up with no table.. or no TV :O or no Wife.

Perhaps when we dream, we're really awake.. and when we're awake we're someone's dream. Perhaps our bodies are *****d to all who dream, and someone right now is seeing their dream through you. :O

or..

Or perhaps.. no matter how many ways we try to explain it, or how many bizarre scenarios we can come up with.. we're still here. And there's nothing that can really change that.

Reality, to me, is what I wake up everyday to. I can pinch myself and it 'hurts', so here I am. If I really AM a part of someone's mind.. well it hasnt bothered me for 18 years, so I don't believe I'll let it start now

 

God needs to stop forgetting socks and start forgetting bills.