How do we know if anything exists?

[DontTouchMeImFamous]

What if the loved ones whom we are afraid to harm by CBTing don't exist? What if all people in this world are in our minds? How do we know this world exists outside of our mind if the only way we can interact with it is using our body that sends the information to our mind?

 

[bankai]

Is our entire life a simulation? It's possible. I doubt we will find out.

 

[Daenerys Targaryen]

I believe nothing exists. When we die, we'll be like we were before we were born. Do I remember? No, oops. That's what I most desire.

 

[SecretDissociation]

I love solipsism. I hope this is true. but also, its kind of bleak because why couldnt I imagine a happier life and ideal people

 

[Hollowman]

They definitely exist and there's way too many of them.

 

[Pluto]

 

[Forever Sleep]

I suppose because you feel like you exist- right? If you stub your toe on a table leg- it hurts. If a family member stubs their toe on a table leg- they will likely react in a manner that suggests that they are in pain. So- if people's reactions to things- not just painful things- nice things too. Tasty food, funny jokes is similar to how you would react, it seems likely they are experiencing life in a similar way to you. Even if it isn't real, it still hurts- presumbly.

Has anyone ever made a meal for you? Did it taste real? Did it put on weight or, make you shit eventually? So- the meal was real presumably? Presumably, so was the person who cooked it. So was the farmer who grew it, the shop assistant who sold it. Unless you're not real too. In which case, we're all sharing this illusion together.

If the principle is- you can't hurt people because, they're not real- surely it must work in reverse too. If someone you know suicides or hits you, will it affect you or not? Maybe you can convince yourself that they aren't real so, it shouldn't. Still, you must have witnessed other people feeling upset about things, so- whether they are real and whether the thing they're getting upset about is real, it still affects them in a similar way to how things affect you- presumably?

I actually sometimes wonder if people who truly believe this isn't real have some advantage in some way. Can you not somehow break the rules and be free? Choose to be happy because, nothing is actually real. None of the bad stuff is real. You don't need to comply to any of it.

I suppose I'm convinced of reality because there are real life consequences to not eating, not drinking, not working, breaking the law, injuring ourselves, injuring others. Plus, everyone in life is reacting in similar ways to me.

I suppose unless we have the power to escape certain physical realities and consequences for doing certain things. In which case- we can't escape this state- it's the reality we're stuck with regardless- whether everything exists or not. So ultimately- does it even help to believe it isn't real?

 

[Griever]

Sometimes I don't even know if I exist

 

[WakingNightmare]

We will most likely never know until the very last moment. I was reading about Jacobo Grinberg a while back who believed in and researched things like this, one day he just disappeared. Maybe he discovered something and realised there's no longer any reason to remain behind in this world, maybe he was killed; who knows.

Regardless of the truth of things, my consciousness is undeniably trapped in a shell constructed of atoms which is what this whole place is made from. It feels disingenuous how embedded I am in this physical "reality", how much of my sense of self is electrical signals in my brain and how much is something "other".
Am I even real, with some permanence? Or am I like an ai waiting to be unplugged one day and that's it, which I dont consider worthwhile.

 

[GhostInTheMachine]

It really doesn't matter if they actually exist or not, what matters is your interactions and how they affected you.

 

[noname223]

I think solipsism can be really poisonous because it can makes us selfish and narcissistic. And many people already have this mindset.

 

[bleeding_heart_show]

Solipsism interested me for several months, but eventually I realized there was no way to prove my sentience and others cannot prove theirs. Ultimately we must trust one another.

I think solipsism can be really poisonous because it can makes us selfish and narcissistic. And many people already have this mindset.

I agree with this. Most humans are unwitting solipsists. It comes with having an ego.