I'm sorry, but you don't exist. None of us do; brain-in-a-vat.

We, as in all conscious beings, are part of a simulation. Yeah, I know this sounds like Matrix shit and all, but I've thought about this for a long time. Maybe the idea behind the Matrix was spawned from this idea.
Yeah, I think I've been philosophical since about six, but that's off-topic...

All of this, this world, this life, this reality, from a biological standpoint, is all in your head. To kick it up a notch, think about this; can you be sure you're not merely a brain placed in a glass jar, stimulated externally? Experiences are merely electrical stimuli between the various cortices in your head.

So, why not? You might, after all, be merely a supercomputer, running a 'real' version of the Game of Life. Maybe the scientists are philosophical zombies*?

*Philosophical zombies are people who imitate life, but don't experience as much as a 'real' human. It's impossible to know whether you're a zombie or not; maybe someone's life is hollow, maybe you're life is hollow in comparison...

Discuss, please?

 

I hate these god damn topic's... "We are what we imagine ourselves to be, we are just a figure of our imagination.." Bunch of bull shit, We're all real, hence we can touch, taste, smell, see, feel, lick... Ect... If we where just a figure of out imagination then you better watch out because your floor is about to disappear..

 

Do you have any evidence to support your claim?

 

Shredderbeam- I'm not going to lie; no :noworry:
It'd be like trying to prove Qualia; it just won't work. :embar:
Perception can be quirky.

Also, DDoS; you can't prove you exist. If you think you can, try to

Slightly off-topic:
I know we shouldn't condone Wikipedia as a valid source of information, but there was one passage that intrigued me,

 

Actually, I and all of the other graduates of the 3rd grade can prove we exist. We can touch, hence we exist. If we did not exist, it would all be one big dream. We could get shot, and not feel pain. We could jump off a cliff, and not get hurt. But the reality is, if we DO get shot, we feel the pain, we if DO jump off a cliff, we feel pain. If we didn't exist, we wouldn't have dreams.

 

I don't know that you exist..you are a mere line in my mind.

Do you have any to go against?

I like this topic, because it reminds me of mine..can you prove that you exist ^.^

 

The primacy of consciousness argument has been refuted many times, it contains many contradictions thus must necessarily be false.

In order for an individual to be conscious, there must be something to be aware of. An individual cannot be aware if there is nothing to be aware of, thus something cannot be a figment of one imagination if there is nothing to imagine.

Also to be aware of your own consciousness and claim your own consciousness is independent of existence, would be a contradiction.

Reality is objective, don't think so? Try jumping off a building and find out what happens.

 

That post is full of misconceptions that are aroused by the topic of dreams.
I can disprove all these.
If you want me to, ask- otherwise, provide us with some non-bogus reasons.

 

I don't believe that you can prove that one does not exist; however you cannot necessarily prove that you DO exist without using logic and reasoning (which essentially cannot be proven to exist).

You can ponder this subject all you want, but at the end of the day, it is your perception of reality and not reality itself that matters. If in reality we do not exist - are supercomputers as you mentioned - then it still doesn't matter; it is irrelevant. You feel, think and act and as far as you are concerned you exist every bit as much as the next person.

 

Well, I am not asking you to prove it, I am asking if you have any evidence that might shade the probability one way or the other.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qualia

You can prove that you exist to yourself, but you cannot prove it to an external observer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burden_of_proof
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell's_teapot

The "brain in a tank" idea does not violate the "primacy of reality" rule.

 

I don't necessarily believe this, but it is actually a very good thought and very interesting.

You have had some thinking time on your hands, and I guess I will stay up 5 minutes longer tonight thinking about it.

 

As Rene Descartes once said, "Cogito ergo sum" which translates to "I think therefore I am" I don't think we are just simulations, can you provide any evidence, other than thinking about it?

 

Umm...
You're never going to be able to feel what another person would feel. That person would never feel what you'd feel. If we're all wildcards, doesn't there need to be some sort of 'simulation ground' for us to be in?

 

Has anyone ever put on simulation goggles?

Its pretty convincing... And maybe we are experiments made out of future technologies!

I still don't believe it, but its an awesome though

 

Except that the idea for The Matrix was spawned/inspired from an animated movie from 1995 called Ghost in the Shell.

As for being in a simulation, even if this is true I have no way of knowing therefore I shouldn't really care.

 

I believe Shredd already asked you to support your claim, and I have yet to see so.

 

Lol nice one.

I guess nobody can really clarify it, although its interesting.

 

Well, given that the topic seems to arise in philosophy from many people all over the world, it would seem that there is some sort of truth attached to this.
Google 'What is it like to be a bat?'

 

I find my point of view to be somewhat alike. As we do exist because we can feel. As in a dream it feels real but you don't feel. Unless you fall out of your bed or have one of those pain feelings like it's real but forget that.

When I think along the lines of are we real I also think about why are we here. And I always come to the same conclusion. We are real but have no point in life. As you may be alive but in the end we're really nothing.

 

That's what I think too, sometimes!
I think these are common thoughts across the globe.
Maybe there's more to this...
Maybe not.