(October 29, 2016 at 5:44 am)Excited Penguin Wrote:(October 29, 2016 at 5:21 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote: I didn't say 'real world', I said 'external world'.
I'm not sure to which doubts you're referring. Can you be more specific?
Boru
What do you mean by external, then ? External to what, the neurons ?
External to my own consciousness. Try an example. I have a lawnmower in my garden shed. If there is no external world, then the lawnmower will cease to exist when my consciousness ceases to exist. If there is an external world, the lawnmower will still be there when my consciousness isn't. I have no 'reasonable belief' that the former situation is the correct one, so I therefore believe - without proof - that there exists an external world apart from my consciousness.
To put it another (and perhaps more personal) way, the AF member I know as 'Excited Penguin' exists whether I live another 50 years or I die in the next ten seconds. If there were no external world, you would cease to exist when I do.
Boru
‘I can’t be having with this.’ - Esmeralda Weatherwax
