Is the world a hallucination?

[Dillinger4]

Do you want him to say ego death?

 

[cesare]

And I suppose it doesn't help that I know fuck all about philosophy

That doesn't matter, neither do I, neither do loads of folks. But we recognise that we don't know stuff, so what we do is learn rather than come up with a half baked theory which we then try and convince everyone else about. Interminably.

 

[Dillinger4]

That doesn't matter, neither do I, neither do loads of folks. But we recognise that we don't know stuff, so what we do is learn rather than come up with a half baked theory which we then try and convince everyone else about. Interminably.

Comedy.

 

[Citizen66]

in what sense?

In what sense do you believe the term to mean?

 

[cesare]

In what sense do you believe the term to mean?

The whole point is that it's meaningless.

Philosophy is an action rather than a subject - which doesn't mean to say that the act of thinking is philosophy. Philosophy relies upon the synthesisation of thoughts into a cohesive proposition or statement. One test of this is whether that proposition is meaningful enough to be agreed or disagreed with.

 

[max_freakout]

there may be an event in the future that alters the parameters of any given. Although not impossible, arguments and positions tend to be based on facts rather than fantasy.

No, there may be an event in the future which breaks the established rules of cause and effect, the future wont necessarily continue to behave as predictably as the past

 

[i-am-your-idea]

As for the statement 'the world of imagination is as real as what most people call reality' I would be inclined to agree in part with this view. Everyone has their own mental image of what the world is really like. Taken as a whole this is always an 'imaginary' representation of reality and not reality itself. This is because no one knows the whole truth about the universe and so their idea of it has to deviate at some point from the actual reality of it. In this way we all have an imaginary untrue changeable idea of what reality is. However, there does seem to be a world that is more tangible and unchanging than that which we can just imagine. If there is no difference between the world that we appear to inhabit and the infinity of possibilities that reside in the imagination then it has to be asked why there seems to be so much regularity in the world we inhabit compared to the endless changeable and unconstrained ideas of the imagination. Personally, I think that this among other things shows that there is a 'real world' that all humans jointly inhabit and abides by different rules than the imagination. However, whether this world is made of atoms and molecules or is a massive hallucination created by some evil demon or is generated and sustained by God's imagination is up to question.

^found this interesting too

 

[Dillinger4]

yep

 

[max_freakout]

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

 

[Dillinger4]

But you don't believe in physics.

 

[cesare]

But you don't believe in physics.

He edited

 

[jonH]

let me think

 

[max_freakout]

did Einstein believe in physics?

 

[jonH]

Nah....cosmic mystery

 

[i-am-your-idea]

didn't he also say 'imagination is more important than knowledge.'

 

[i-am-your-idea]

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

 

[max_freakout]

didn't he also say 'imagination is more important than knowledge.'

yes, and also

"I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."

he was a staunch determinist

 

[i-am-your-idea]

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

go einstein!

 

[i-am-your-idea]

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

 

[i-am-your-idea]

"In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."

sheep ftw

 

[bluestreak]

*facepalm*

 

[max_freakout]

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

awesome

the divine shipwreck

 

[i-am-your-idea]

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us _universe_, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

 

[Dillinger4]

Well done. You quoted Einstein, just like Max did.

It doesn't make you any less dim though.

Thought involves more than quoting other peoples ideas. You need to understand them.