Imaginary Friends

[Father Heathen]

Being self aware proves it to ourselves.

 

[MNoBody]

Being self aware proves it to ourselves.

well, to a point ....though

 

[shivsomashekhar]

Solipsism is a philosophical position than cannot be refuted. it is, however, nonsense.

if you consider the physical world to be imaginary, then I wonder about what you mean by the term 'real'.

The OP is not solipsism.

The self, the I is real in Solipsism. Everything else is imagined and therefore, unreal.

The OP is about an imaginary questioner asking for proof from other imaginary entities. That is, proof that there is no one asking the question.

 

[Mock Turtle]

We often see atheists talking about religious beings as imaginary friends.

But what if we've got it backwards? What if God is the only one real, and the physical world and all the people in it are imaginary?

How would you go about proving that you're not a schizophrenic hallucination of a disturbed God? How do you prove you're real?

If so, what are we supposed to do about it? We are tied to this reality and if we ignore the many needs that come with being a human then we won't be one for very long. Much like free will, we have to do what appears best for ourselves - and that is, accepting that we are real. Unless one wants to live one's life in a drug-fueled haze. Not something that appeals to me.

 

[Salty Booger]

But what if we've got it backwards? What if God is the only one real, and the physical world and all the people in it are imaginary?

Philosophic question that we play with from time to time. Is Life simply God's dream? Are we just characters in his mind?

 

[MNoBody]

The OP is not solipsism.

The self, the I is real in Solipsism. Everything else is imagined and therefore, unreal.

The OP is about an imaginary questioner asking for proof from other imaginary entities. That is, proof that there is no one asking the question.

[....nice comment]
just to follow that thought process, then where comes the urge to ask the question?
is it merely encoded into the entity engaged, clockwork wise? or is it from some other source?

 

[Twilight Hue]

There is no possible way to 'prove' subjective claims such as above, it is contorted logic.
,

Thats true to an extent. The mind goes through various phases that blur the lines of reality and how its precieved.

I remember a lucid dream I had and take that reality within the dream was just as real as waking up reality is. The difference is when you wake up you know you had a dream, and when you dream you dont know you fell asleep until you wake up again.

Its worse than watching a crummy episode of Freddy's Nightmares.

 

[shunyadragon]

Thats true to an extent. The mind goes through various phases that blur the lines of reality and how its precieved.

I remember a lucid dream I had and take that reality within the dream was just as real as waking up reality is. The difference is when you wake up you know you had a dream, and when you dream you don't know you fell asleep until you wake up again.

Its worse than watching a crummy episode of Freddy's Nightmares.

Good response! I was being a little too polite, and I originally wrote something like your response.

 

[lewisnotmiller]

We often see atheists talking about religious beings as imaginary friends.

But what if we've got it backwards? What if God is the only one real, and the physical world and all the people in it are imaginary?

How would you go about proving that you're not a schizophrenic hallucination of a disturbed God? How do you prove you're real?

Ultimately I don't think you can. But I don't see a reason to think it likely, or act as if it is the case.

 

[MNoBody]

kind of like in groundhog day where since Bill could not convince the others about what was going on, he just had to adopt a different approach, and keep at it until he finally broke out.... which is an optimistic outlook as an ending.

 

[Aupmanyav]

if you consider the physical world to be imaginary, then I wonder about what you mean by the term 'real'.

Differ with you. Real is physical energy and nothing else. Physical world is an appearance in our mind.

 

[Aupmanyav]

I dropped an imaginary hammer on my toe. It didn't hurt.

Hurt will depend on the weight of the imaginary hammer, the force with which the imaginary hammer was released and the height from which it was dropped on your toe, etc.

 

[MNoBody]

When fools compare various entities to "imaginary friends" it isn't deserving of any attention, frankly. That's giving them far more credit than the deserve as their comparison is little more than an infantile jab that demonstrates a failure to understand much about what they're referencing.

much the same as listening to children animatedly discussing their favorite comic book heroes and their adventures, or taken further into role playing [cosplay], or further still into professional acting where they really invest a lot into an imaginary character, whom they portray so divinely [with post editing magic] that they win the adulation of legions of adoring fans who then emulate their imaginary hollywood heroes and so on it goes....... very strange daze, most peculiar mama.

 

[Samantha Rinne]

Solipsism is a philosophical position than cannot be refuted. it is, however, nonsense.

if you consider the physical world to be imaginary, then I wonder about what you mean by the term 'real'.

But if you cannot refute it, then how can it be nonsense?

Children at a very young age don't understand ontological inertia. That is, they stop looking at something and for all intents and purposes it disappeared.

If we were to stop looking at most of our great religious or political or other monuments, how long do you think they'd last? Well, turns out that I watched a Discovery Channel special called A World Without Humans. They talked about just in the US, letting the DC area go to nature. The animals in the zoos would bust out, the area would flood, and most monuments would quickly fall to the elements. Can't find the exact video, but here's similar.

When stuff is neglected it falls apart. But we twnd to break anyway in about 60-100 years, less if we really haven't cared for ourselves.

This is what I mean by not real. Also, it's not solipsism. Solipsism is the position that only I am real, after Descartes famoys "I think therefore I am" assertion. But the way things are going, I don't assert that I myself expect to last. Therefore only God is real.

 

[stvdv]

We often see atheists talking about religious beings as imaginary friends.

The saying goes "what you see in others is in you"

But what if we've got it backwards? What if God is the only one real, and the physical world and all the people in it are imaginary?

The real Wise ones do indeed say exactly this

How would you go about proving that you're not a schizophrenic hallucination of a disturbed God? How do you prove you're real?

By reversing the Truth. They can't

 

[Hermit Philosopher]

Solipsism is a philosophical position than cannot be refuted. it is, however, nonsense.

if you consider the physical world to be imaginary, then I wonder about what you mean by the term 'real'.

Dear Polymath257

I cannot help thinking that if you bring up solipsism here, you may be missing a central point to the spiritual idea presented: that you too, do not exist.

If I remember correctly, (philosophy’s) solipsism is the idea that my consciousness is the only thing that is. I’m not so certain that is what this OP is suggesting...

I read it as asking us to imagine that the only thing that exists is God’s consciousness; not our own...

What say @Samantha Rinne? Is that not you you meant?

Humbly
Hermit

 

[SalixIncendium]

We often see atheists talking about religious beings as imaginary friends.

But what if we've got it backwards? What if God is the only one real, and the physical world and all the people in it are imaginary?

How would you go about proving that you're not a schizophrenic hallucination of a disturbed God? How do you prove you're real?

Who, in your "what if" scenario, would be the one imagining?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Solipsism is a philosophical position than cannot be refuted. it is, however, nonsense.

if you consider the physical world to be imaginary, then I wonder about what you mean by the term 'real'.

If it cannot be refuted, then how have you arrived at the conclusion that it's nonsense?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Drop a hammer on your toe.

Drop a hammer on your imaginary friends toe.

Study the results. Submit for peer review.

What if my imaginary friend has no toes?

 

[SalixIncendium]

Being self aware proves it to ourselves.

By this logic, your dream reality is every bit as real as this one.