Jump to content

Do I exist?

FishyLD

By FishyLD
in Introduce Yourself!

 Share

Recommended Posts

Nathrangking

Nathrangking

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, FishyLD said:

Hey I need assistance i'm not sure if I exist. Thoughts?

Welcome. This is a difficult question to answer. Philosophers across the ages have tried to answer it let me have a go. Well you see a message need not be construed as existence as David Hume stated perhaps we are all shadows in the dreams of a creator. However, as you are in Brandon's perpendicularity which is his cognitive realm. As a thought that is enough to qualify as existing as a Sanderson Spren. Enjoy yourself, but don't take any spiked cookies. Have an upvote!

2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Vargo Seldon

Vargo Seldon

Posted
Posted
51 minutes ago, Silva said:

Hey @I think I am here., you want to help this guy out? You're closest thing to an expert in this field I can think of.

Anyways, welcome to Shard!

Definitely talk to ITIAH.  I think he's come to terms with his existential crisis.

On another note, welcome to the shard.  Disregard Nathrangking's advice and take this cookie on behalf of the DA.  What books by Brandon have you read? What characters are your favorites?  What theories do you have about the cosmere?

Here's some friendly advice about the shard, as it can be a confusing place without guidance.  Stay away from sub forums that are about books you haven't read, as they are full of spoilers.  If you're into role-playing, than I would recommend the alleyverse.  The cosmere discussion area is a good place to propose theories, or just talk about the cosmere in general.  The community are is a good place to just mess around, and the last post wins is a fun place to just spam random things.  All of the links in my signature are worth checking out, and welcome to the shard!

0
Link to comment
Share on other sites
I think I am here.

I think I am here.

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Silva said:

Hey @I think I am here., you want to help this guy out? You're closest thing to an expert in this field I can think of.

 

2 hours ago, King Taravangian said:

Definitely talk to ITIAH.  I think he's come to terms with his existential crisis.

I have been summoned. I think.

5 hours ago, FishyLD said:

Hey I need assistance i'm not sure if I exist. Thoughts?

Ok, well the first thing you need to think is whether your actions affect anything. If they do, you exist. Right? I mean, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here typing this, therefore you must exist, because your actions have impact. But then again, how are you sure that this is actually an impact? What if I'm a figment of your imagination? In that case, you imagined this entire post, which means you really didn't affect anything. Which means you don't exist.

It's like the Truman show. This entire website just might be your mind playing tricks on you. Maybe none of us actually exist, and we're just made to look like we do, all to fool you. But as another sentient human being (I think) I can safely tell you I do exist, and so I'm not a figmen tof your imagination. But then how do you know whether I'm telling the truth, or just telling you what you want to hear because of my innate programming to do so? You don't know, so its a matter of trust.

Maybe your entire life is a simulation generated by you. But in that case, you'd still exist, its just that nothing else would. So proposal two: You're just a figment of my imagination. Think about it. I mean, I'm the only one who truly knows if I exist or not, so maybe this whole website, maybe my entire life is just my consciousness paying a big joke, and all of you are just simulations, like people in a dream. Characters in a dream don't exist in real life, do they? So maybe I'm in a coma or something and this is a big dream, so you don't exist. But you say you can think, so maybe its similar to a computer having an AI, where the characters in my complicate dream can think for themselves and ask questions like this. Which brings up a question (does AI exist? I think so).

But proposal three: It's not you or me. Why do we matter? For all we know, we could be in the coma-dream of some journalist girl from China, or literally any one of the many coma-induced people on the planet. And we just think we can think, but we're really simulations that think we're smart. But then, if your just a character in some random person's dream, and I am too, do you still exist? Because even if we're just people in a dream, you're question still affected me. Who knows, maybe in the 'real' world you don't have an effect, if you're entire existence really is in some random dream, but you still cause an effect in the dream. Which opens up another a question.

If we are all in a dream, but we still effect each other, does that mean we exist? Who cares if it doesn't effect the non-dream world, but we have an effect within this world, which means, that even if you don't exist in the real sense, you exist in another sense, which means the only way for you to not exist is if you were the only person in a dream, which isn't so, because I'm interacting with you. So either we both exist, or we both don't, and either way, you're question led to this answer, which means you definitively do exist, in some sense or the other.

Tl;dr: You exist. I think. But if I don't exist either, does my thought really matter?

Spoiler

r/im14andthisisdeep :P 

 

Edited by I think I am here.
7
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 2 weeks later...
HarmonicMonk

HarmonicMonk

Posted
Posted

Hey, hello. As a Harmonic monk I must add our world view to this debate. It being that maybe it's not a question of existence in a real world, but a question of "I" in existence.

Because maybe the world around you isn't an illusion, but your perception of yourself as an individual, as a being separate from nature, the planet, the universe, reality, is an illusion instead. 

Where does this thing we refer to as "I" or "me" or "myself" start and where are it's limits? Aren't we, as consciousness, the auto perceived product of a highly developed biological organ, which itself is a combination of neural cells and electrochemical signals, which again is the product of evolution? Cells and signals made of the same fundamental particles and interactions as everything else, therefore, any idea of separation is just an illusion meant to keep us, as a species alive?

Or is there a soul, a part of our self that doesn't belong here, that lacks a physical, biological, material existence? Even if that was the case, wouldn't all beings possess one, wouldn't there be a big river of life and spiritual energy in which we, as individual droplets of water, think we are separate from the rest?

I actually don't know. That may not even be Harmonies doctrine, I don't know (mistborn triology spoilers ahead)

Spoiler

I literally don't know, I'm half way trough Mistborn era 2, starting Shadows of Self, so don't take my word for what kind of deity sazed has become

But I guess it's important to think about it. 

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
I think I am here.

I think I am here.

Posted
Posted
26 minutes ago, HarmonicMonk said:

Well, in the end it's kind of sad that this never got replied... Maybe he/she didn't exist after all. 

To bad you were summoned needlessly, but I appreciate the effort you put there...

Eh, now I have something I can pull out whenever someone asks me the same question.

@FishyLD

3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 months later...
Lunamor

Lunamor

Posted
Posted
9 minutes ago, FishyLD said:

Sorry about not responding. I was walking the balance between existing and not, so I spent some time not existing, to see how I liked it. After a few months of that, I came back to sentience.

Welcome back!

1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Invocation

+Invocation

Posted
Posted (edited)
6 minutes ago, FishyLD said:

Considering i'm trying to join the DA, I suppose I accept.

Wait you mean you're trying to join the DA? This is a first. 

Just now, I think I am here. said:

Haha! So you do exist! I am happy I can guide others to an existence I cannot reach :P 

You think...therefore you are.

Edited by Invocation
0
Link to comment
Share on other sites
I think I am here.

I think I am here.

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Invocation said:

That does not matter. You think, you are, you exist. Physical location is meaningless. There is only

E X I S T E N C E 

But the username is “I think I am here.” So I might not exist, or I might not be here, or both, or neither, or half of one and three quarters of the other.

0
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Invocation

+Invocation

Posted
Posted
Just now, I think I am here. said:

But the username is “I think I am here.” So I might not exist, or I might not be here, or both, or neither, or half of one and three quarters of the other.

In order for you to not exist, you must first exist. You have the thought about something, being whether you are here or not, anchoring you firmly for the moment into the category of Existence. 

In the next moment, this status may change.

But that is not my concern.

0
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
 Share
Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...