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What defines reality?

yenom

Alexander the Terrible
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
1,755
Here are the things that Human perception describes reality with:

Space
touch
light
gravity(that is if you are not in sapce)
time

Here are things that are undefinable yet part of our perception. They cannot be sensed by using the 5 senses:

infinity
time
change
energy
information

How do you define these unknown and unseen variables? They exisits, yet cannot be seen with the naked eye. Like information, what is it, it exist and is transmitted in computer networks, yet what is it? Does these things really exist? What part does it play in the experience of being human?
 

Owl

desert pelican
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
717
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INTP
Wow.

You've just raised some deep, hotly disputed, questions. A whole bunch of them. All at once.

Might I suggest you narrow your inquiry a tad?

I think the question you used as the thread title is a good place to start. What is existence?
 

Stanton Moore

morose bourgeoisie
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
Messages
3,900
MBTI Type
INFP
Here are the things that Human perception describes reality with:

Space
touch
light
gravity(that is if you are not in sapce)
time

Here are things that are undefinable yet part of our perception. They cannot be sensed by using the 5 senses:

infinity
time
change
energy
information

How do you define these unknown and unseen variables? They exisits, yet cannot be seen with the naked eye. Like information, what is it, it exist and is transmitted in computer networks, yet what is it? Does these things really exist? What part does it play in the experience of being human?

YOU DEFINE IT. The world is my will and my idea.
 

Kangirl

I'm a star.
Joined
Dec 27, 2008
Messages
1,470
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ENTJ
Depending on my mood, I may or may not be willing to enter into a probably pointless philosophical discussion of what defines 'reality' but for practical purposes, in my day to day life, the input from my 5 senses defines reality.
 

yenom

Alexander the Terrible
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
1,755
Wow.

You've just raised some deep, hotly disputed, questions. A whole bunch of them. All at once.

Might I suggest you narrow your inquiry a tad?

I think the question you used as the thread title is a good place to start. What is existence?

:)

YOU DEFINE IT. The world is my will and my idea.

False. Objective reality exists.

What defines human perception? Is time really a construct of the human mind? Our experience with time and energy defines our perception of reality.

Although I lack proof, I sense time and energy as the same. I want this proven as ia law of physics.

time would seem like infinite if one has a lifespan of thousand years, rather than 80 years.

What if I am drifiting in the vastness of space or in an alien planet with no human beings, how would my perception of time of time be different?
One hour in the darkness and abyss would seem like eternity compared to one hour on earth.

What is information, what is change? What is it as a property of the universe? How is it all tied together with time?
 

INTJ123

HAHHAHHAH!
Joined
Jun 20, 2009
Messages
777
MBTI Type
ESFP
:)



False. Objective reality exists.

What defines human perception? Is time really a construct of the human mind? Our experience with time and energy defines our perception of reality.

Although I lack proof, I sense time and energy as the same. I want this proven as ia law of physics.

time would seem like infinite if one has a lifespan of thousand years, rather than 80 years.

What if I am drifiting in the vastness of space or in an alien planet with no human beings, how would my perception of time of time be different?
One hour in the darkness and abyss would seem like eternity compared to one hour on earth.

What is information, what is change? What is it as a property of the universe? How is it all tied together with time?

That's the way I saw it, objective reality is there and our perceptions of it are limited, so the reality as we know it might not be the whole reality.
I'm not so sure anymore, but I definitely can share that point of view.
 

EcK

The Memes Justify the End
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The title is an oxymoron.
You were doing fine until the second word.
 

iwakar

crush the fences
Joined
May 2, 2007
Messages
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Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
I do. Then I learned that so do you.
I have been shedding my God-complex ever since.
 

Snow Turtle

New member
Joined
May 28, 2007
Messages
1,335
:)
False. Objective reality exists.

It may exist.

What defines human perception? Is time really a construct of the human mind? Our experience with time and energy defines our perception of reality.

Time seems to be connected to change. Our brain interprets two independant events and links them together, without change it'll seem as if we're stuck in time. Agreed that our perception of time would probably be much slower in a dark room than outside, it doesn't completely stop because we will be aware of change within our body. Our internal clock.

What exactly are you describing as energy?
Heat or something else?

What is information, what is change? What is it as a property of the universe? How is it all tied together with time?

What is thought?
Yeah... Most would answer it as a response to neurons being fired.
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
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This is a topic that will never have a conclusive answer, but is always fun to ponder about when bored.

Due to the very nature of our finite senses. Our perceptive existance can never be truely objective. At most, we can be as objective as possible, based on the knowledge and wisdom we aquired over the years.

reality to us in terms of mathematics is hyperbolic If the null line defines objective reality, we can get close, but never hit it completely. Even if our race evolves infinitaly into the future, and more wisdom and knowledge growing each generation. Getting closer and closer to that null line, that objective reality. We will still not travel on it. At the most, along side it.

So, what defines reality?

We do, according to our subjective representation of it.
 

yenom

Alexander the Terrible
Joined
Aug 3, 2008
Messages
1,755
If our percepiton is subjective, then the laws of physics would not have appeared.

Objectivity does not have to be through our own eyes, we can biuld a robot to investigate the truth for us.

Time and energy defines our perception, without both existence would not be possible.
neurons being fired does not explain the creation of information out of nothingness.
 

Fluffywolf

Nips away your dignity
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If our percepiton is subjective, then the laws of physics would not have appeared.

Objectivity does not have to be through our own eyes, we can biuld a robot to investigate the truth for us.

Time and energy defines our perception, without both existence would not be possible.
neurons being fired does not explain the creation of information out of nothingness.

Sure, we have a grasp of objectivity, sure we can measure things such as physics. But who is to say that physics is a result from an entirely different dimension we are oblivious too. We can see the objectivity within our limited senses. But we are incapable of doing so when talking about existance as a whole. We can merely sample that part of existance in which we are capable of functioning.
 

Snow Turtle

New member
Joined
May 28, 2007
Messages
1,335
If our percepiton is subjective, then the laws of physics would not have appeared.

Lots of people believe that an objective reality exists, but it's acknowledged that we can never grasp it 100%

Objectivity does not have to be through our own eyes, we can biuld a robot to investigate the truth for us.

What would this robot be like?
How does it investigate truth?
Does it send back data so that we can interpret it?
Do we program it to interpret things? Which interpretion do we use?

Time and energy defines our perception, without both existence would not be possible.

Mind explaining what you mean by energy?

neurons being fired does not explain the creation of information out of nothingness.

Hmm. It's certainly interesting to find out when exactly thought is generated. But I guess biology would claim that it's just random, and that it eventually becomes a habit that we continue to repeat.

But learning new things, we're generating thoughts in a controlled manner so... it seems that we have some sort of influence over our neurons being fired.
 

simulatedworld

Freshman Member
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The way such a robot interprets and communicates information would be irrevocably biased by the cognitive processes of its creators.
 

Owl

desert pelican
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
717
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INTP
False. Objective reality exists.

Really?

What do you mean by objective reality?

Do you mean a mind independent realm of objects? That there is at least one object the existence and properties of which do not depend on any perceivers' perceiving them?

If so, then what justification can you give for your belief that such an objective reality exists? (This position is commonly known as "realism").

You assert that without this type of objective reality, the laws of physics would not exist, but what are the laws of physics other than the mind's abstract interpretation of other mental deliverances?

That is, the discipline of physics is a cognitive, and therefore mind dependent, way to explain why our perceptions of physical objects change--but perception is usually conceived of as being representational; i.e., the chair you see is not a physical chair, but a mental object which, according to our best science, is an interpretation of electro-chemical firings in the brain that are not chair-shaped. (Where is the chair that you see? In your brain? Outside your brain? Nowhere at all?)

But if both the (supposed) physical objects that you see and the physics used to explain why these "physical objects" change are both mind-dependent, how do you know that your mind is simply not creating both the objects that you see and their physics?

How do you know there is an objective reality?
 

Owl

desert pelican
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
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Time seems to be connected to change. Our brain interprets two independant events and links them together, without change it'll seem as if we're stuck in time. Agreed that our perception of time would probably be much slower in a dark room than outside, it doesn't completely stop because we will be aware of change within our body. Our internal clock.

The concepts of absolute space and time have been empirically discredited by the theory of relativity.

Even without empirical data suggesting that time is relative, a good case can be made that it is, and I think you're on the right track. If there were no change, then on what basis could we distinguish time T1 from T2? Any distinction apart from change would be a distinction without difference; T1 and T2 would be indiscernible; therefore, T1 and T2 would be identical, (and, without change, this identity relation would hold up to Tn).

In a world without change, talk of time would add no new, meaningfull content to any sentence. In a world without change, there would be no time. Talk of time only makes sense relative to changing objects; it is the changing objects that exist; time is a relational property that holds between changing objects.
 
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