My existence?
By merlinsorca
@merlinsorca (1118)
United States
September 11, 2009 6:48pm CST
I was wondering about the existence of everything in general, but then I worked up a theory in the midst of my thoughts.
What if I am the only one who really exists and this entire life and this universe is just a dream or a projection and no one else in the world is really there? What if the whole world is fake and my existence is just an experiment started by someone or something?
If this is true, then all of myLot and everything is not real. And all you people are not real! If this is not real, then I should do all sorts of crazy things...
Thoughts?
And...
Try to convince me that this IS real?
1 person likes this
8 responses
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
12 Sep 09
Your discussion reminds me of the quote by Chuang Tzu:“I dreamed I was a butterfly, then I awoke. Now I wonder: Am I a man who dreamt of being a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man?” I have often had similar thoughts myself, and I was wondering if the world really existed or if everything was just a dream and or a fantasy inside my head. I didn't know how to find the truth. If someone told me that the world was real, how was I supposed to know whether that was the truth or whether the person (and the words) was just a part of the dream?
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Sep 09
Yes. I am not real, I'm just messing with your mind with this unreal discussion that I started. In your mind. Strange, isn't it?
@angelajoy (1825)
• Philippines
12 Sep 09
Hello there Porcospino. This discussion also reminded me of the quote by Chuang Tzu, but I couldn't remember the exact quote, so I just used dream as an example in my post. This discussion also reminds me a lot of the Matrix. I really like that movie because it is not just a typical action movie. It also questions reality itself. In the movie they used the Matrix as the dream world. If we would think about it, the possibilities of the true reality are endless.
@savak03 (6684)
• United States
12 Sep 09
I think you're letting all that star trek influence your real life. They did an episode where Dr. Crusher got trapped in a warp bubble and all the rest of the people around her were basically figments of her imagination. As they began to disappear one by one she thought she was losing her mind. Of course her son and the traveler worked out a way to get her out of the bubble and back into the real world.
So go through the rift and get back over here to the real life. 
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Sep 09
That wasn't exactly the episode I meant. I started thinking about this ever since watching Ship in a Bottle where at the end Reg Barclay tries to exit program while not even in the holodeck, because he had the device where James Moriarty was living in a simulation that he thought was real...
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
13 Sep 09
I'm not talking make believe, I'm seriously questioning the possibility that the world isn't real. I'm just looking for some real proof, and I haven't been able to find any...
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
31 Dec 09
Hi, sorry for taking so long to comment back to you but I will, anyway.
Well, I was never asking if you if I exist, I know I do. "I think, therefore I am." What I'm asking is if everyone ELSE exists or not, because I have no way to know if you are a real person. What if you are just part of my mind, hmm? 
Can you prove to me that you are a real, living, breathing, thinking person that actually exists and is really experiencing the world? Or am I the only one that exists, and everyone and everything is just in my head?
If I didn't exist, that would be a real problem. If I don't exist, who or what could have written out this discussion and all these comments? I don't know what you are experiencing and what you are sensing. I only know what I am experiencing, through the senses. I know I exist because I can see things and hear things and etcetera and I think from these senses and that is existence for me.
What I don't know is what other people are sensing and if other people even exist, because all of my existence is just sensing things. I don't really KNOW if you are experiencing the world, and all of reality, like I am, or if you are just part of my mind. I can never know, because if you said you exist, then I couldn't believe you with 100% certainty because when you tell me I would still be relying on my senses. And there is no way to prove that my senses actually tell what is reality. . .
Can you prove to me that you are a real, living, breathing, thinking person that actually exists and is really experiencing the world? Or am I the only one that exists, and everyone and everything is just in my head?
If I didn't exist, that would be a real problem. If I don't exist, who or what could have written out this discussion and all these comments? I don't know what you are experiencing and what you are sensing. I only know what I am experiencing, through the senses. I know I exist because I can see things and hear things and etcetera and I think from these senses and that is existence for me.
What I don't know is what other people are sensing and if other people even exist, because all of my existence is just sensing things. I don't really KNOW if you are experiencing the world, and all of reality, like I am, or if you are just part of my mind. I can never know, because if you said you exist, then I couldn't believe you with 100% certainty because when you tell me I would still be relying on my senses. And there is no way to prove that my senses actually tell what is reality. . .
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Sep 09
What if this response is just a fake response that the fake world created?
@edslot (3)
• United States
12 Sep 09
I have had some thoughts some what related to yours. I question my existence and surroundings. Well, ever since Ive opened my mind to new thoughts and ideas, Ive declared myself as an agnostic. I don't know for sure if the existence of god is true and I dont know if the existence of science is true. So what I do is live my life the way I want to live it. I try to do all the cool stuff that I'm able to do. Only being 16 I am able to do alot of things. So, my answer is I don't know. I think this is real but, I don't know how it became real.
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
13 Sep 09
Well how are you sure that life is real? Whatever created the universe could just be your own mind.
@GardenGerty (157735)
• United States
12 Sep 09
I had some of the same crazy thoughts when I was more like a child. I thought about the fact that my life was probably just someone elses' dream. I imagined the dreamer sitting on a front porch with a red climbing rose. Looking at me to entertain them during the day.
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Sep 09
Interesting. So if what you say is true then that means life is just a simulation for somebody else to watch...
@angelajoy (1825)
• Philippines
12 Sep 09
Thinking about our existence could be really frustrating because we don't know if we are experiencing the real world. For example, when I bite an apple, my senses tell me that it is sweet and has a taste that is unique to apples. I can also see its color and feel its texture. For most people, what the senses say are already enough to experience reality. But if this is reality, then, as Morpheus said in the Matrix, reality is only electrical signals interpreted by the brain. We can know things through our sense, but the problem is, we never experience [/i]the thing itself[i]. We never experience its essence. So we can never be sure if it is real or not. How do we even know that what our senses are telling us is correct? Just because people experience the same thing doesn't mean that the experience is real. When we dream, we usually cannot distinguish between the dream and reality. How do we know that we are not dreaming right now?
@merlinsorca (1118)
• United States
12 Sep 09
I agree with you on this. We can't really trust our senses, because there is no sense that can tell whether something is REAL or not. Seeing and hearing things is not enough, because these can be created by whatever is causing us to experience this UNreality.
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