Originally Posted by
hawkesnightmare
I would like to start a topic on reality. Specifically, is what we perceive as reality, the true reality? I have done some digging and will now produce possible theories for discussion.
1. the only real person is me and the rest of you are extremely advanced computer simulations that are autonomous and capable of acting exactly as humans do.
2. We are the reflections in a mirror or reflective surface and the real people on the opposite side.
3. I am actually insane and you are all figments of my imagination (similar to the simulation theory).
4. This is an alternate universe that was created by a time machine in which someone traveled back in time to when I was born, and some things that we find normal are extremely weird to the original universe.
5. Everything is exactly as we perceive it. You are just as real as I, and this universe is what we get.
1. If the simulations act exactly as humans do, then what is the real difference between a simulation and a "real" human? Can it not be said that the simulations themselves are then, real?
2. Are there any meaningful consequences to this? If we are the reflections, and our thoughts are also "reflected" in such a way that all of our actions make internal sense to us, yet aren't strictly dictated by "us", what does that change about our understanding of reality?
3. Plausible, and not easily disproven.
4. Again, not easily disproven.
5. Surely, that's too far-fetched to even consider? From our current understanding of the laws of physics, our perceptions aren't to be trusted. Even if we exist in "reality", what does this mean, if we are unable to perceive or know of the whole of reality?
Originally Posted by
Timeenator
I'd like to add another theory which I feel is also relevant to the concept of reality:
6. Brain-in-a-vat
Everything we see, hear, touch, feel, taste, and experience in general is nothing more than a clever simulation crafted and tailored specifically for every person by an ultracomputer. We are merely brains suspended in vats filled with brain-preserving fluid and connected to the ultracomputer via electrodes. Different realities perceived by different brains mesh together via a clever algorithm that allows all of these individual realities to combine and form into a sort of "meta-reality" (i.e. life as we know it).
Again I would ask, is there a
meaningful difference, between the simulation, and "reality"?
Last edited by Wight; May 13, 2013 at 03:48 PM.