Existence is far more than just perception.
Nice point.
...Or, at least, potentially, it could be.
@OP: I'm still not sure how a non-existent thinker/perceiver could think and perceive anything. To me, the question is not whether the thinker/perceiver exists, but whether what they think and percieve in any way reflects external reality outside of that awareness of self-will.
Nolla said:
And even when saying this we are bound by the words we use. There is no reason to call it perceiving. It might be that this word doesn't correspond with what is at all. Actually we should not say anything of it. Thundering silence.
Is there a difference between thundering silence in the absence of anything at all vs thundering silence in the choice to remain silent?
Well as I see it, we can't ever be entirely sure that the world that we percieve objectively exists at all, considering that we are trapped within the realm of our subjectivity. But, there is no reason to assume that the external world isn't real, we just can't know 100%. Thus I take a will of assumption as my safeguard, that is I assume that this world that I perceive; real, dream, whatever; this world is my true world, I cannot doubt it because it is the only world that I know of, and that everything within is real to me.
I have a door analogy that basically sums this up:
I suppose an analogy that might describe this better is if I imagine myself in a room with one door, I have always lived in this room and it is the only room that I know of. The door in the room has always been locked and there is no way to open it. Now it is possible that there is another room on the other side of that door. For all I know that other room could be the "real" room, and this one is nothing more than an imitation of it. It could also be possible that there is another room with another door, and another room beyond that etc. It could also be possible that the is nothing behind the door, that it's just part of the wall. But since I can never fully know what is on the other side of the door I can only conclude that the room that I inhabit now is the "real" room, while acknowledging the possibility that there are other rooms beyond this one.
Yes, I consider that a "practical approach" to this unanswerable question of what is real.
There are stipulations and constraints and frameworks I accept about the world because I've chosen to engage rather than doing nothing, even while admitting that my perception of reality might be flawed.
I saw a kid poke a frog with a stick. It was one of the worst things I've seen. It was like all of his guts came out of his mouth. The second thing I know next to existence is this feeling of identifying with the frog. I regret that I didn't stop the kid in time. Wussed out, I guess. I've tried responding since to others who would do that. I want them to feel themselves. And there's no way to go about it than by my enforcing my sense of existence and feeling on to them, just like they're doing. Which brings me to the third thing that's real. Power. It's almost a party now. I wonder what else I need to balance this shit out.
One of the large leaps I experienced, existentially and spiritually, in my life that added depth to my intellectual approach to the world was this:
In the face of not being able to prove what is ultimately real, in the end the only thing that truly can empower me is the choice of what to value and live for.
It's a choice, based on my awareness of myself and what resonates with me.
I choose what is most real.
I chose what is most worth valuing in the world.
I chose what I shall do to pursue and encourage such values in the world.
The intellectual framework gives me a perspective I can use to build what I perceive as a consistent and relevant understanding and engagement of the world as I ultimately perceive it, but even the the intellectual approach is still a choice on my part.
It was immensely terrifying, yet liberating, when I became aware of how much of my engagement of life was a choice rather than compulsory. I didn't really hit that until sometime in my 30's... slowly become aware of it, then sitting on the knowledge for awhile until I had steeled myself to embrace it without regret.