how can we believe anything??

[Losty]

I guess no ones gonna understand I guess close the threads mods. You guys say you are free thinkers but you all still have your own norms - I guess I wont fit in anywhere besides a coffin after I end it all.

Are you seriously threatening to kill yourself because people on the internet disagree with you!? Get some help honey. See a doctor.

[Chas]

i been thinking how can we believe anything?? for example space - everything we know about space we got from a book, the internet, tv, etc - everything we know about space is what the system wants us to know.

I was looking at the sky with my telescope last night, but been wondering what if everything I can see is only what they want me to see? What if the sky is just a glass and the things we see are just projected in our petri dish world?

Just lately nothing seems real to me anymore, I mean how can i even prove that I exist?? and im not trying to promote any conspiracy theories just been thinking about this a lot but for example, even with conspiracy theories, they didn't just come out of thin air. People say "oh I get my news from more credible sources so I can see whats really happening in the world" - but ever wonder what if those "credible sources" are just a balance placed in to keep people in motion?

I just don't feel safe at all almost as if I am just going to disappear any second, and I am okay with that because I don't like this world or this life, but it it still scary.

Please see a mental health professional.

[JesusHChrist]

Holy crap they are coming out of the woodwork.

Is this a Sign of the End Tymes? Prof's Rupture 2014?

[Keri]

exactly! but not us as individuals. The majority of people on this planet have never been to space - but we still believe the photos and videos we are shown to be real.

My friend won a trip to space. She's going sometime soon. I'll have to ask her if it's real.

[KUSA]

- I guess I wont fit in anywhere besides a coffin after I end it all.

Don't worry mate, Jesus loves you.

[Whateverist]

Nope.
Everything we know about space we got by going into space.

exactly! but not us as individuals. The majority of people on this planet have never been to space - but we still believe the photos and videos we are shown to be real.

But why stop there? How do we even know Australia is there down under? Based on globes and maps we're supposed to accept a thing like that?

Or take other minds. You know what you own is like but who knows if any of the rest of us is like you or all just part of an elaborate hoax.

If you can't tell that I'm be facetious you may need some serious help.

[Natachan]

I'm torn as to wether you are a solipsist or a conspiracy nutter. If the first, I have only the answer that we act in such a way that what we perceive reinforces our perception and model of the universe. We know the earth rotates the sun because the models we have that state this are very very strong, because all the data points to this. We believe in special and general relativity, for example, because the data we get from reality corroborates it.

If you are a conspiracy nutter then I'd be happy to tear apart your silliness later.

[JesusHChrist]

The other day, I had a colonoscopy and found out my guts are quite real.

I always suspected they were real, but now I've got pictures to prove it!

Of course, I didn't actually go inside my colon to see what I could see.

The doc and a room full of nurses had that privilege.

Lucky bastards.

[Cyberman]

It's the same thing as with the Matrix idea. Even if the Ultimate Truth turns out to be that we're all part of a giant computer simulation, or that nothing is real beyond the confines of your or my head, we still have to deal with the reality as it is presented to us. We still need to eat and drink and shit several times a day. The simplest course, embracing Occam's Razor, is to eliminate all that meta-reality stuff as totally irrelevant to the reality which appears to be consistent to us all.

So even if I'm a brain in a jar and all of this is some illusion to keep me from going insane, so what? I'd point out though that a) it's not working and b) you'd think 'they' could come up with something better than this.

[Whateverist]

The other day, I had a colonoscopy and found out my guts are quite real.

I always suspected they were real, but now I've got pictures to prove it!

Of course, I didn't actually go inside my colon to see what I could see.

The doc and a room full of nurses had that privilege.

Lucky bastards.

As I recall the qualia involved in a thing like that are nothing to look forward to. I hope they were gentle, took there time and bought you breakfast after.