EXPERIMENT: A. Does reality exist? B. Is existence real?

?

2006-06-14 07:10:47 UTC

I can't answer your entire question(s), except to approach it from the reflective nature of personal reality. This involves "self-fulfilling prophecies".

This is practical, tangible, and personal.If I see an attractive woman, I do not act on my feelings, because I "perceive", [with no factual basis, meaning I "presume"] that she would have no interest in me.

So I do nothing, and appear to her to be disinterested, and my subjective assumption manifests as reality--nothing happens.

If my thoughts Create rather than Reflect reality, then there is no objective reality external to the limits of my own believed imaginings. This is the approach of pure Idealism--Plato's allegory of the Cave and the Forms which we never perceive

directly.

Is perception really preconception?

If you cannot oserve or measure something, then for you, it does not exist. To a blind groundworm, light and vision do not exist.

To my cat, geometric forms do not exist. Human Reality is as much a mental construct, as it is a pereption of some "solid" external Reality. Hence the temptation exists, that if we were more conscious of this mental domain, would solid reality disppear like a hologram?

It's spooky and scary for us to look at it that closely, isn't it?

That is how "Reality" appears to God--as His/Her own construction it has no real reality. The only real entity to a God, would be another God.--i.e., something that God did not create.

Miss Red

2006-06-14 14:22:43 UTC

You see? This is why I dislike the use of the terms objective and subjective. Everyone says they understand what they mean. Everyone has a vague idea. But they truely don't have much in the way of definition.

A question you should be asking is, 'If something exists that I can never observe or measure, will I be able to define it?'

This type of thing is an example of how philosophers can take a very simple concept and break it down into incredibly complex servings.

But...here I go anyway -takes a deep breath-

Is there an objective reality which exists independent of subject reality?

Term confusion. Scroll down to the end for more thoughts on this.

Is existence real?

Define your terms. If existance is based solely on an ability to measure and define an objective 'verse. No. If existance has a more micro definition, localized solely in a human's perceptions, then yes.

Objective reality may exist, but only the "community construct" "sujective reality" is meaning because objective reality is entirely unknowable?

Philosophers point to interlocking 'realities' in order to point to a reality not limited to one person. (I'm presuming this is what you mean by objective and subjective) Cause and effect. I kill a person. That person's existance ends. Therefore I can affect a broader reality.

Is existence an objective reality?

So here we are, defining this term existance. Really, we should do this before asking any other questions about it. Is 'existance' the interlocking reality or the inner reality. I would lean to something broader, encompasing both. Existence seems to lend itself to a definition based on cause and effect. Is one's existance over merely after they die? Or do they continue to exist until their influence has left the stream of the world? Does Adolf Hitler 'exist' in today's world?

Does the unknown exist? (That is can an object/phenomenon be said to be real if it has never been observed or measured?)

Using this definition of existance we just hashed out above, the question becomes, does the unknown have influence on the world? Something unobserved and unmeasurable... This is the god question. Other people have written volumes...

Can I be certain of the existence and reality of anything other than myself?

Using the definition of existance, does anything other than you have an influence on your life? ... I would say so. Therefore something out there must exist. Ha! Love the logic!

Does observing an object or phenomenon changing the objective reality (nature) of that object or phenomenon?

What the hell was the name of that theory? Any isolated biosphere, when studied, changes. It seems reasonable that identifying any currently unidentifiable thing would change the way it affects the people who identified it.

Does anything exist that I can never observe or measure?

Does anything that you cant observe or measure effer effect you? Sometimes, the key to answering a philosophy question is to turn it around onto yourself.

Is objective reality mutable, that is, can simply observing an objective reality (eg a fact) alter that fact?

Term confusion. Localized around the word Objective. To be objective is not to be fact. To be objective is to be independent of all other influence. This does not exist in reality. In fact, as one of the traits of reality is change, objectivity seems to be the anthesis of reality.

turkeybacon

2006-06-15 03:25:10 UTC

phew....this is one loaded gun of a question. i will try my best....

is reality/existence just perception? i doubt that just because we all share commonalities. we all have unique experiences, but we all have similar ones too. so i don't think it can be all that subjective. maybe a balance of both somehow.

the unknown can certainly exist. a long, long time ago we did not know that protons and electrons existed. we did not develop the tools or knowledge to measure it. we had no idea. but they existed regardless of our ignorance of them. many things have yet to be discovered, but they still exist. our awareness of these "unknown" things does not determine their existence.

i don't understand some of what you are asking. can observing a fact, like 2+2=4, change that fact? obviously, no. we can look at it however we want but 2+2 will always=4.

you can be sure of the existence and reality of anything other than yourself by interacting with other objects. you should look into heidegger's being and time. i can't really get into it here. but it should answer a lot of your queries.

and again many things exist without our knowledge. another example would be binary code. we just recently learned about that and are still exploring all the possibilities of that. another example would be god. we have no proof of god, yet god could very well still exist with or without our belief. many things in space have yet to be explored but may still be out there. love can't be measured. things associated with love can be measured. but actual love is not a science. there is no formula to which we can find/fall in/keep love. it's immeasureable but it exists according to many people.