The Calm – Mystical.Calamity

Existence

Existence-The fact or state of living, or having objective reality.

I have often asked myself how I know that my dreams aren’t the reality in which I physically exist. Consequently, what I believe to be objective would be, but a dream. While it is impossible to be sure, I hope my subconscious will pick a dreamscape.

One out of every twenty people is color blind, but how do we know they are the ones who are color blind? We say we know because the majority of people see color the same. If there was an island filled with only the “color blind,” except for one man, he would be considered the one with the disorder.

Alternatively, even if, over the years, more people came forward as color blind, leaving the percentage of non-color-blind people as the minority, then our perception of what is genuinely the correct color would change.

The idea that everything we believe in takes place only in our mind’s eye is interesting. Unfortunately, though, I would find it sad that our mind simulates our reality, and I could not come up with a better one than this.

If everything is happening only in our minds, then someone must be controlling our actions. Otherwise, why would you perceive a crack in the sidewalk, not see it, and trip? How can I know what something will look like based on touching it? How can all my senses be so in sync with each other?

Moreover, most people are in tune with each other, creating a common acknowledgment of the world we perceive. If my reality is a virtual simulation created in my mind, do other people exist? There are too many questions to consider to even begin constructing a theory.

Though, to me, the origin of our reality is irrelevant. Descartes had implied; that to know that you exist is the only thing you can be sure of.

“I think. Therefore I am.” -Descartes

~~Prove Me Wrong~~

Absolute Knowledge

Plato’s cave analogy concludes that one’s perception of reality is, in fact, their reality; because one cannot perceive anything outside of their reality. Perception is variable, and therefore nothing is truly absolute or can be proven.

Descartes asserts, “Only pure knowledge known by resources of reason can be reliable.” Then one might argue that reason is learned based on situation and environment, which changes for each person.

Every person perceives each situation differently. Therefore, the reason is also variable. What anyone can know is derived from information gathered and observation of the world. Then used to draw a widely agreed upon conclusion, but since what we know comes from what we observe and what we can observe continues to progress, factors multiple, and the prior knowledge expands, changing what one thought they knew.

Consequently, what one can observe and claim to know now and what one may “know” will differ. No one can ever honestly know anything, and one only knows what they believe to be true until they obtain new information and realize that they no longer know what one thought one knew.