is reality real??? can it be confirmed that things can and do actually materially exist, and that everything isn't just like a giant video game like 'The Sims'? how could we ever tell if something was ever telling us to do something, like in a game??? building on that, could there also be no 'free will' if so?
It kind of depends on what you define as being real. Descartes demonstrated that "cogito ergo sum" or "I think, therefore I am". Thus the concept of "existence" in a wider sense is established. As you constantly witness reality you also prove that reality exists. The real question would be if this reality is independent of your own existence or just a state of your mind. And well, self and non-self are undistinguishable from an epistemological viewpoint.
However, theories of a matrix aside, if you assume that there is existence outside your own mind then chances are that your CNS's depiction of it is fairly accurate. Sure, the input of information is limited and the central nervous system still processes and interprets the provided information. But as nervous systems evolved to enable orientation in the environment this informational input may be blurry but true in its essence.
There is no actual way to know whether or not anything is "real". Therefore, a person's sense of reality relies on their own perspectives. For example, in a situation, people may react to the situation in an infinite amount of ways. However, we will only react in one, or a few of these ways. That's because our perspectives are different, because of our past experiences, etc. So each person's view of reality becomes different.
is reality real??? can it be confirmed that things can and do actually materially exist, and that everything isn't just like a giant video game like 'The Sims'? how could we ever tell if something was ever telling us to do something, like in a game??? building on that, could there also be no 'free will' if so?
this is from the first page.
Well in my mind what if this is just a video game and were all being controlled its like the entire world is being controlled by people they can make anything happen are how people act not saying thats true but it could were just highly unaware that a guy is making me type this lol not really but what if some kid is making me do everythin i do.
to answer the definiton of 'realty' more or less completely:
reality, as in everything that exists, is known, and is percieved by the human mind. it could be put a different way, but that is my 'definition'.
and perception, could that be defined as 'real'? i might call something blue and it might look like X in my mind, but to someone else, if we have both been taught the same thing, could it be percieved by them as Y?
Any perception is as real as the perceiver believes it to be, for him.
There is the famous Rubin vase. The illusion presents the viewer the choice of two interpretations, both are valid, but the viewer usually can see only one. No matter how much they try, they cannot encompass both interpretations simultaneously. Both interpretations are valid, nonetheless only one is "real" for that particular period of time.
Try it, get hit by a truck and convince yourself that truck is a giant fluffy bubble just wanting to pick you up off your feet and cuddle you, and see if you get cuddled by a bubble? If you do then reality isn't real. Post results here.
My reality is real. What I see is very real to me. Is it real to you? I don't know, but it's real to me. See that unicorn? It's real. I can see, smell, feel, and hear it. I'm not going to taste it, that would be weird.
Point is, reality is subjective. Reality to a paranoid schizophrenic would be very different from a normal persons reality.
