This topic; philosophical it may be, runs though almost everyone's mind at some point I'm sure. The basic idea is that of "what if i am the only thing that exists - and everyone and everything is an illusion (of mind or a 3rd party demon).
Here, I'm going to touch on some background knowledge, which i suggest you read unless you are familiar with Descartes' work:
(Begin history lesson
Rene descartes was a french Philosopher around 1600. He originally came up with the famous quote "I think, therefore I am" - he defined his existance on the basis that he can think for himself, control his actions, have ideas, etc.
Although this may seem small - it is actually the basis of a wide range of philosophy that would come later on.
Descartes then expanded on this presumption by creating his idea of "deceiving demons" - this is where a "demon" outside of oneself, can manipulate and alter the world, and everyone who resides within it. This was backed by his idea of "i think, therefore i am". Although the existance of such "demons" is pretty hard to comprehend - unless you also believe in God. But many people have come to see these demons as their own subconcious - as the subconscious may have ulterior motives, that's the whole point of the subconscious: one can't know it all. So peoples minds can be deceiving them.
mini history lesson over)
Wherever or not you take the demons to be a higher intelligence like a god - or part of your own subconscious is partially irrelavent in this topic. It's quite an interesting idea that we are almost spectators of everything we see. Something to relate this to is the Matrix - where "the matrix" is a deceptive blind that is pulled over everyone's eyes. Another example could be from the film "inception" to a certain extent.
The thing is - it's very hard to disprove any of this. I mean think about it, any arguement against this made up reality could have been up there by the demon. Humans are also very emotional - it's within our nature to jump to conclusions and let parts of our lives register on emotional levels, which can affect our judgement. If we can only prove we exist - what about everyone and everything else? (I'm not going too deep - start trying to define "reality and so on but, think about it).
If you read that, thank you for following despite my dyslexia. If I have been unclear or unfactual anywhere, feel free to edit or inform me.
Anyway- discussion, since i was about 6 i've always questioned the fact that i may be the only "real" thing here. But my understanding is that many other people also think this. In fact, I could be imagioning my computer, my barking dog, the girl i sat next to on the bus, even everyone who will read this. This is also quite a serious topic: people often do not believe reality and can commit suicide, from a more medical point of view, there are many conditions that link to subconscious complications. If you have any thoughts/ stories/ questions/ feel free to post.
Here, I'm going to touch on some background knowledge, which i suggest you read unless you are familiar with Descartes' work:
(Begin history lesson
Rene descartes was a french Philosopher around 1600. He originally came up with the famous quote "I think, therefore I am" - he defined his existance on the basis that he can think for himself, control his actions, have ideas, etc.
Although this may seem small - it is actually the basis of a wide range of philosophy that would come later on.
Descartes then expanded on this presumption by creating his idea of "deceiving demons" - this is where a "demon" outside of oneself, can manipulate and alter the world, and everyone who resides within it. This was backed by his idea of "i think, therefore i am". Although the existance of such "demons" is pretty hard to comprehend - unless you also believe in God. But many people have come to see these demons as their own subconcious - as the subconscious may have ulterior motives, that's the whole point of the subconscious: one can't know it all. So peoples minds can be deceiving them.
mini history lesson over)
Wherever or not you take the demons to be a higher intelligence like a god - or part of your own subconscious is partially irrelavent in this topic. It's quite an interesting idea that we are almost spectators of everything we see. Something to relate this to is the Matrix - where "the matrix" is a deceptive blind that is pulled over everyone's eyes. Another example could be from the film "inception" to a certain extent.
The thing is - it's very hard to disprove any of this. I mean think about it, any arguement against this made up reality could have been up there by the demon. Humans are also very emotional - it's within our nature to jump to conclusions and let parts of our lives register on emotional levels, which can affect our judgement. If we can only prove we exist - what about everyone and everything else? (I'm not going too deep - start trying to define "reality and so on but, think about it).
If you read that, thank you for following despite my dyslexia. If I have been unclear or unfactual anywhere, feel free to edit or inform me.
Anyway- discussion, since i was about 6 i've always questioned the fact that i may be the only "real" thing here. But my understanding is that many other people also think this. In fact, I could be imagioning my computer, my barking dog, the girl i sat next to on the bus, even everyone who will read this. This is also quite a serious topic: people often do not believe reality and can commit suicide, from a more medical point of view, there are many conditions that link to subconscious complications. If you have any thoughts/ stories/ questions/ feel free to post.
