The obviousness of existence?

[randomsomeone]

I know I exsist. I think, I feel, I touch, I see, the list goes on. Others will say "you can't use those as defining factors.", well, what else am I to use then? They take the argument and break it down so far to the point where from my point of view it doesn't exist anymore and the point is from then on just moot.

I agree....I just go with what I got.

 

[Flavus Aquila]

The possibility that our senses are deceived should make no difference to our concept of existence. It is a matter of relative perspective.

If I see the universe in one way, but it can be seen in a totally different way by someone/something else, my perspective nevertheless, is real or existing. In that perspective there are relations between diverse beings (subatomic particles to galaxy clusters). Whether these beings be material objects, or mere thoughts, their relation to one another is real.

For example, if I imagine a fictional character "Jack" who likes "Jill" then the relationship between Jack and Jill is affinity, whether there be any real people called Jack and Jill who care for one another.

Furthermore, there is a relationship between what we consider to be mental constructs and what we consider to be real existing things (even if they can be conceived of a different way than ours). So that we can say that couple walk together like Jack and Jill.

 

[NeverAmI]

I have grown to be a HUGE fan of inductive reasoning.

There is probably ___________.

There is a probable chance that the world exists in probabilities for me.

 

[DefectiveCreative]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqnEGu8VF8Y"]YouTube- Perception - The reality beyond matter[/ame]

Personally I don't agree with this video's conclusion, but IMO everything before roughly the 15 minute mark is a fairly decent explanation of how perception and reality are not the same thing, and therefore arguably why Rene Descartes was perhaps right when he said the only thing we can be sure exists are our thoughts ("I think, therefore I am").

I have grown to be a HUGE fan of inductive reasoning.

There is probably ___________.

There is a probable chance that the world exists in probabilities for me.

Me too, I've been having fun in recent months playing around with General Semantics and E-Prime too.

EDIT: Perhaps instead of saying "I think, therefore I am." Descartes should have said "I think I think, therefore I think I am...I think". :lol:

 

[Norton]

It would seem to m the existence is very much so obvious, however I no many people either doubt their own existence or disregaard it completely?

Why is that?

Philosophically, the question could be posed more precisely. For example, disregarding one's existence is a different thing altogether than doubting one's existence. I am not sure what "disregarding one's existence" means. However, people who doubt there own existence may simply suffer from a lack of confidence in their thinking abilities and cognitive skills.

Nevertheless, communicating to another one's doubt of one's existence belies the negative and, by the very act of communicating, proves one's existence, at the very least, to the other party.

Anyway, at some point, you have to accept the usefulness of your senses, which some say God gave to us through his wonderful, ingenious process of evolution so he could attend to things of greater interest than our boring moment-to-moment interactions with the world.

 

[Trifoilum]

In the very pragmatic sense, I believe people value their existence on what they did, and there are other parties to judge. Sure, the degrees of others' judgement and how it affects us differ between one another, but it affects you more or less. In which case, for people to disregard their existence or its value was pretty much a devastating thing by itself.

Going meta...tho.... well, everyone had said things more beyond my small comprehension. I agreed with 'sensory', 'thoughts', and mostly memories being a proof of our existence.

However, the (hopefully) theoretical situation of me, you, each of us being only a figment of someone's imagination or computation do makes sense. I remember playing a PS2 game, Star Ocean : Till the End of Time, which plays around with this.

I don't know the answer, and I don't think I'm seeking it at the moment. Our existence...is there. Here. Even if some time after this, I woke up ala The Matrix, or a-la Star Ocean, that doesn't make our past experience, our memories, any less true than what it's supposed to be.

Or there's this metaphysical idea of a 'heart' or 'soul'... but I'm not going there. This is hurting my head more than I'm willing to be (wait; why am I posting here, then? No idea..)

 

[Jack]

imo existence is self-evident by way of qualia. The 'self' as well can be at least provisionally accepted quite reasonably, by one's own experience.

 

[Ecton]

Interesting. In my personal philosophy, the experience of existing is the only fundamental axiom. Everything else is an assumption. For example, I'm not a materialist because I experienced existence before understanding material, and therefore material is just an assumption. (Yes, I know some brain surgeons who would get a chuckle out of that.)

So I would reverse the question and ask, how can experiencing the now lead to any other thought about what is that we can believe in?

 

[Ecton]

Inferiority complex. I have one too, although it is fading since I started working on my social anxiety.

It is definitely nice not having the bias of an ego, but the bias of the inferiority complex sucks too. Trying to find that middle ground.

^^^ This. He hit the nail on the head.

I'm trying eastern mindfulness training. I'll let you know if it gets anywhere.