A thought experiment: The rainbow temple

[Jackalope]

Myself, I come down on the side that the universe actually exists.

I see this as a tautology (where universe = all that exists).

Whether our perception is an accurate picture of that reality is a whole different kettle of fish. Or, put another way, the nature of that which exists in reality is not contingent of any agent being able to detect it.

Pretty sure we agree on that.

Even though my reality of it is all I can experience, there is a separate 'thing' called the universe that exists regardless of me and will continue to even if I can perceive it or not. Some people find it uncomfortable to think that the Universe exists without them, but I find it to be a strangely comforting idea that it'll go on without me. That it'll always be there.

That, and I believe that many people find it discomforting to think that their position in the universe is an unimportant one.

There was probably a time when such thoughts might have bothered me, had I bothered to contemplate them. The universe will get along fine without me, or it won't - either way, I have no say in the matter.

To the OP's question - yes, the outside world still exists, but perhaps not as I perceived it.

[bennyboy]

I see this as a tautology (where universe = all that exists).

I don't think that definition is right. Universe means "one turning." Turning is a physical action, and I think this implies a physical reality. This excludes idealism, substance dualism and other possible modes of existence. But I don't think there's anything you can experience that can allow you to rightly discard those other modes of existence.

Be careful of choosing definitions for things which beg the question before the debate even starts.

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Even though my reality of it is all I can experience, there is a separate 'thing' called the universe that exists regardless of me and will continue to even if I can perceive it or not.

How can you know this? How can you establish that the universe is not just a collection of ideas, that you are not in the Matrix or the mind of the Flying Spaghetti Monster?

[ShaMan]

To further the point is the universe you know in your mind and memory or is it the actual universe?

(bold added by me)

Please tell... Who is the 'you' and who is the 'your' that is being described? Are they not also merely constructed concepts?

You answer 'mine' and I'll try 'yours'

[My imaginary friend is GOD]

OMG I AM GAY AND THREAD TITLE SAYS "Rainbow"!

[ignoramus]

Sorry about the necro.

Sometimes I compare our reality to a 3D game.
Only when you move the mouse around are the actual pixels dynamically created to show the next frame. It didn't exist before then. Nothing exists other than what is on the screen at any given moment. Yet we have the illusion in the game that there is a big area to explore! There is nothing else there. It is only potentially there. We dictate what reality we experience.
This argument will hold more ground if we were living in the matrix.

Interesting philosophical concept.

[Endo]

Hey, Schrodinger! How's that cat of yours?

[Mystical]

I never understood that episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman where they did science showing that reality might not exist unless/until we perceive it. Because then.. How did that mold grow on the cheese in my fridge when I wasn't looking? o.0

[vodkafan]

We are all locked in our own heads. But you have to start somewhere thinking that what's around you is real and work with that...I think that is called Pragmatism? (I am not much up on philosophical concepts).

[Mystical]

I'm beginner level but if I say I see a blue elephant and you see a gray elephant and everyone else says the elephant is gray then obviously my perception is altered by my senses no? Or is the elephant both blue and gray in two separate realities? How do you qualify what a reality is if it isn't independent of our perception of it?

[ignoramus]

http://The new riddle of induction, for ...third son.