Inception

Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that you’re a philosophical zombie; i.e that you don’t have a conscious experience; i.e. that there’s no actual Mason sitting behind a screen right now. How can i tell the difference? That’s the point: I can not, and could never. It’s literally unknowable; a mystery. In the end, it makes do difference whether I believe you’re actual or not; you’ll still punch me if I spat you in the face. It’s fun to think about though.

The simple explanation is that solipsism is true; I’m the only being, and I’m imaging you guys. But the problem is that you guys seem way too real. I can’t help but believe there someone at the other end… Now, I got an even more twisted theory that might explain this: What if solipsism is true from my POV, but also from your POV? It’s the ultimate paradox. There’s an multitude of infinities right? In fact there is an infinite amount of infinities. So I am infinite (i.e all there is), but so are you. What if our realities are separate, beyond space and time, like parallel universes. Just like there’s parts of the physical universe that we can never reach, we can never access each other’s realities.

I think I finally get it! I’m the room. I’m the hands. I’m the phone. I’m actualized.org. I’m this post and the replies.

@Mason Riggle Oh boy is this twisted, I love it. Thanks for the laugh ?

@Mason Riggle I am.

You were able to think before you learned English. Blind and deaf people are still able to think. So thought is prior to language. “Think” about it: Have you ever had an idea you’ve had a hard time articulating? You got the idea in your head, but you don’t know how to communicate it. A lot of you guys are hung up on language, which is how thoughts are often manifested, especially when communicating with others. But often when we’re talking about thoughts, we’re referring to something much more fundamental: intuition, intelligence, and understanding. Stop dismissing thought, just because language is dualistic. You’re only looking at surface, what lies beneath?

@Mason Riggle To keep my sanity, I guess ? Wouldn’t you agree that Magritte’s painting of a pipe isn’t an actual pipe? If so, wouldn’t you also agree that your post isn’t yourself? Look at it from my POV: There’s no biological human named Mason in my direct experience, only your post. So I am literally imaging you as a human, sitting somewhere on Earth right now. That’s something I’m “putting on top” of my direct experience. From your POV (which I’m imaging) you are imagining me. If you don’t believe me, then go ahead and try to touch me… you can’t. Who knows, maybe you could imagine whatever you wanted, if you gave up this reality that is. But be careful; you might quickly find that you want it back once you’ve lost it…

@snowyowl Me neither. But it’s fun to think about ?

Getting mind f’d

@snowyowl Now, let me ask you: Have you ever seen your face before? Really think about it…

@Shin Where did you get the idea that you’re bald?

@snowyowl Does the back of your head exist?

@snowyowl Maybe you’re creating your memories as you’re accessing them. Maybe you’re creating this post as you’re reading it. Maybe you’re creating your whole reality as you’re perceiving it, but you aren’t aware of it because you’re doing it so convincingly. Now, what if you could get inbetween the process of creation and perception? ?

@snowyowl I’ve been thinking a lot about memories lately. Aren’t they also just imaginary? How do you know the entire physical universe wasn’t created 5 seconds ago? What is a brain? How do you know you have a one? No offense. Have you ever seen it? Where did you get the idea from? What is the future? Where is it? What does it taste like?

@Mason Riggle Yes, and all the others that I’m imaging. From your POV (which I’m imaging), yes. I suspect that you are actively, although unconsciously, doing it. You have to in order to have a sense of reality. I mean the post didn’t write itself, right? Maybe you could stop imaging it, if you deconstructed your mind enough, but you’d literally lose it in the process. So… maybe don’t? The same goes for me: I’m imaging you, imaging me. I have to, otherwise my reality wouldn’t make sense. If we’re to take the non-dual perspective, maybe it would be more accurate to say that Consciousness is “imaging” both of us as illusory separate egos.

Guys, I think I might be getting what’s going on… Don’t you see? I’m imaging that I wrote this post. That’s what I’m trying to tell myself. This is how I construct reality.

I can’t claim to understand your pain, but I’ve recently been through a very though period of my life. I can’t promise you it’ll get better, only time will tell, but it almost always does in some way, as it has in my case. Changing my worldview has helped me. I used to believe the universe was separate from, and didn’t care about me. That it was dead, mechanical and governed by simple physical laws. I now believe that we’re the universe, literally. It’s (we’re) a living being, and it (we) feel all kinds of things. From this perspective, when you’re suffering, the whole universe is suffering; When you feel angry, the whole universe feels angry; When you feel jealous, the whole universe feels jealous. I also try to appreciate the pain sometimes. It might seem preposterous that you’d wish this upon yourself, but i intuit that if you lived a life of pleasure, you’d eventually grow tired, and “choose” a life of hardship. Now, an advice for you in general, and this situation in particular, is to collect quotes. Here’s some I wish that I had when I went through it: “Ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders” “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light” - Aristotle "A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials" - Seneca “What stands in the way becomes the way” - Aurelius “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional” “It ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” - Balboa “If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward” - King “For without pain, there can be no pleasure. Without sadness, there can be no happiness. Without misery there can be no beauty” - Ellison “Pain is temporary. It may last for a minute, an hour, a day, or even a year. But eventually, it will subside. And something else take its place. If I quit, however, it will last forever” - Thomas “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks. Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle, but you shall be the miracle” - Brooks Love ❤️

@BipolarGrowth I am. That’s what’s in my present experience. Yet you’re telling me I’m not. Am I supposed to take your word for it? Wouldn’t that just be more belief?

@Seraphim Don’t get me wrong, I’m not claiming not to be human either. I’m not claiming anything at all. But let me ask you: What is a human? Are you human? How did you become human? What were you before you became human, and what will you be after?

So concluding that you’re an actual human who wrote that and is having an experience outside/separate of my own would be one such fallacy? I’m referring to the ones reading my post. Are they not actual? And if so, what are they? Figments of my imagination, I would be inclined to say.

@Gennadiy1981 Have you ever experienced something outside your own experience? No, because if you did experience something outside of your own experience (whatever that means), it would be part of your experience. Something outside of your experience can only exist as concept/fiction/fantasy in your experience.

@Seraphim I’m not claiming this to be true, or that I know it. I’m not even claiming to be human. Sounds like you’re the one doing the claiming ?

@Tyler Durden Merci Beaucoup! This was actually initially written as a reply to your post about media. Boy did I have to twist my mind for this one ?

Did you actually reply to my post, or is that just a memory… Did you actually make this post, or is that just a memory… Did you actually read this, or is that just a memory…