Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Word of the day: Solipsism.

  This is the philosophical idea that you can only depend on the existence of your own mind..  and that there is no necessary proof of anything outside of that.   This is a bit of a freaky view. It’s like saying there is no proof that anything exists accept my mind.  Everything else is potentially just a figment of my imagination. 

So does anyone really believe this – apart from maybe some pot smoking philosopher in the past?  Well.. some actually believe that young children, by default, have this belief of sorts until they eventually work out that other people have experiences like they do. 
Then there is Solipsism syndrome, a dissociative mental state.  Someone suffering a mental disorder may think they are the only real ‘person’ and all others are just empty vessels going through the motions.. Kinda scary thought – because someone who truly believed that would have no need for morality.. and would have a pretty bleak future, unless of course they entered politics.  <Boom Boom>.
T.


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