When you begin to doubt reality what can you count on?

This site is set up to encourage alternate viewpoints and perhaps alternate realities. There is no way for all of these viewpoints to be real. Since each reading here chips away at your initial view what does it all mean?
What part of the real world still keeps you in touch with an unbiased wonder of today?
What parts of reading here is the largest threat to your personal vision?

a reply to: datasdream

Well, it may be that all those viewpoints are possible. Just ask the Multiverse Theory which says that an infinite number of universes do indeed exist.

The universe we live in may not be the only one out there. In fact, our universe could be just one of an infinite number of universes making up a "multiverse." Though the concept may stretch credulity, there's good physics behind it. And there's not just one way to get to a multiverse —numerous physics theories independently point to such a conclusion. In fact, some experts think the existence of hidden universes is more likely than not.

Multiverse Theory

So, all in all, this could just be one of an infinite number of possible universes, all complete with every theory ever heralded by man and even those that were not.

I think reality is subjective to the mind experiencing it. In any case, all we can really do is sit back and enjoy the ride all the while trying to figure out just what the hell is going on!



Kallisti

a reply to: datasdream

My reality is different from yours. When you say that reading here chips away at your reality, I say it adds to mine. We all feed off each other in some way. Some choose to take from others' reality and be negative while others learn from others and are positive with it.

You say that not everyone has viewpoints that are real. What do you base that assumption on? People are not right or wrong when it comes to their beliefs, they are different. The extent to which we cannot get along with others of different viewpoints dictates whether we see them as right or wrong. It also dictates whether we live in a peaceful society or not.

For instance, my belief is that people of different stripes will only be able to get along up to a certain point. Beyond that, we need to accept the fact that we are different, that we have beliefs and customs that we may not fully understand and that it's counter-productive to try and instill ours on others'. Take a look around you, do see that happening en masse? I don't, and I believe that's because some people want to believe that we are all equal to each other and that rules and customs should apply to everyone equally all across the board. They believe that and they are more vocal about it than others who don't, therefor they are more influential at making their reality everyone elses.

When you try stifle things like that, tensions among people rise. The vocal ones want laws and regulations based on their personal viewpoints, and when you have all these different viewpoints doing this you're going to have a very complicated and confusing society. You're also going to have a society where people are constantly butting heads with each other which is also counterproductive.

That's my belief. That's what keeps me at peace, productive and level-headed. Yours probably isn't like that but that's okay. It's okay because your alternate point of view spurred me to write about mine which in turn can spur someone else to write theirs. That's the reality of it all, we feed off each other. The trick, it seems, is to keep it on a positive tip.

Everyone's 'truth' will always vary, but I'm just looking forward to the day, probably eons away, when we don't tell lies to children from the git-go, followed by more lies told by and to adults by both their governments and themselves.

Whether you deal with reality or not, it most certainly will be dealing with you.

In my viewpoint of parallel worlds all possible worlds exist and are just as real. This one is just apparent. David Lewis explains it very well in his "a philosopher's paradise". There is no place where you end and everything else begins in your universe. It aligns well the idealism/realism debate because these universes exist as an extension of and independent of everything. The sad part is you can never visit another world.

www.umass.edu...

If you wanna read from his angle..

I prefer the JungIan model of the collective unconscious for my flavor of reality-based everyday head place.
Sometimes however a trip to shamanville is exactly what the doctor ordered.
Much can be revealed down in the rabbit hole if you have the guts and grit for a long strange trip.

And yes you can visit other world's, but best be armed with the shield of faith and the sword of knowledge and if you lack resolve and purpose; stay home!!!

If you do feel like you are missing any sense of reality then you can try hitting yourself in the leg really hard. Pain does clarify one of your boundaries to reality very clearly, helps identify what is important. As for how to make sense of all the different stories and perceptions going around I do find it easier to work with probabilities rather than absolute certainties. If you know there is a chance of what you have been told is wrong it does make it easier to find what is right.