Reality..?

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In a philosophical sense, A brain in a vat, or "Brain-computer interface" if you will.. is an element used in many experiements on the thought process, meant to bring out some features of our ideas on knowledge, reality, truth, mind, and meaning..

Most often seen in science fiction stories, A machine, Alien, or mad scientist remove's a person's brain from the body, seal it in a vat of "life-sustaining liquid", and connect its neurons by wires to a supercomputer..

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This theme was explored through out the "matrix trilogy"..

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Often times in these tales.. the computer would be simulating reality including all of the appropriate responses the brain outputs.. The person with the "disembodied" brain would continue to have "normal conscious" experiences without the experiences being related to objects or events in the real world..

So now let us contine to the next part of this subject..

Simulated Reality

Simulated reality is the idea that reality could be simulated.. Possibly a computer simulation, Not indentifiable from The "true" reality.. It may, or may not contain conscious minds that may or may not be fully aware that they are living inside a simulation..

Hence, "the brain in the vat theory"..

This is different from a virtual reality..Virtual reality is a computer-simulated environment, that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds..

Virtual reality is easily distinguished.. Participants in a virtual reality are never in doubt about the nature of what they experience.. A simulated reality, on the other hand would be next to impossible to separate from "ACTUAL" reality..

Then we come to the idea of Emigration..

Emigration is the option of a simulated reality being dynamically constructed and modified using real-world matter and energy within an enclosing container or room, such as the "Holodeck" in Star Trek. Upon entering such a space, the real-world person would effectively feel immersed in the simulated environment, with a variety of potential methods being used to convince the user of the presence of motion, gravity, environments, and so on, and with the user presumably able to interact (or not) with the simulated reality.

So this brings me to the question.. WHAT IS REALITY?.. This is the deffinintion of reality from wikipidea..

Reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or may be thought to be.[1] In its widest definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible.

So if this defines reality.. How do we know our reality is "true"..?

For example, Another good argument that can be brought up is the argument of dreaming.. This is a good deffinition for dreaming i found..

A dream is a succession of images, thoughts, sounds, or emotions which pass through the mind during sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not fully understood, though they have been a topic of speculation and interest throughout recorded history. ...

So in a since the same argument can be brought up with our "dream world" too.. Witch leads me back to the question..

Just what is reality ?

T-V

it's an illusion.

reply to post by gatewaywithin


Best answer ever!

It may be an illusion, but an experience also. enjoy because it may be the only experience you get.

Originally posted by Redevilfan09
It may be an illusion, but an experience also. enjoy because it may be the only experience you get.

Very true..and thought provoking answer.. That's why i started this thread, I wanted all of the members take on "reality"..

A=1 B=2 C=3...Natural Order Reveals- (REALITY=90) (HOLY BIBLE=90) (WORD FACT=90)


Context Correlation- Confirms Truth... R=18 E=5 A=1 L=12 I=9 T=20 Y=25 =90

Daniel 12:4 "Knowledge will increase in the last days"

(PERCEIVE=83) (NUMERIC=83)

(MODERN ENGLISH=143) (TRANSLATION=143) A to Z (NUMBER=73) (COUNT=73) (PERFECT=73)

www.asis.com...

reply to post by Faith2011


Thanks for the link.. It is going to take me sometime to go over the info provided.. I will let you know what i think..

EDIT TO ADD: but it already appears to be a opinionated take on reality.. Just from what you have provided in your post.

Reality is a bit of a loaded question. Every answer is both right and wrong.
Reality is not one size fits all; every particle of existence has its own perspective of reality.

The more open minded you are, the further back you can stand and see to whole picture. The more you see reality has many faces and depending how stuck you are in your own believes is how much you can see and understand reality.

reply to post by TechVampyre


Consciousness experiencing itself.

Read the Egg by Andy Weir

reply to post by TechVampyre

Reality is consciousness, and we all are observers of this consciousness. Imagine consciousness as being a projector, which is projecting itself onto a screen, and this screen is physical universe which is part of this consciousness and can't be separated from it.

And our belief systems are like slides, which when placed in front of this consciousness projector, generates a picture of us and the physical universe around us. So, different belief systems, generate different realities. And that is true, as all of us have different lives, but the consciousness is same behind every face.

Originally posted by InfiniteTraveler
Reality is a bit of a loaded question. Every answer is both right and wrong.
Reality is not one size fits all; every particle of existence has its own perspective of reality.

The more open minded you are, the further back you can stand and see to whole picture. The more you see reality has many faces and depending how stuck you are in your own believes is how much you can see and understand reality.

So far, this is the best interpretative way at looking at reality.. i have seen thus far in the thread..

And to all participating in this thread.. You will all be receiving stars from me.. As, there is no right or wrong answer to this question..

Originally posted by Buddha1098
reply to post by TechVampyre

 

Consciousness experiencing itself.

Read the Egg by Andy Weir

So in your theory we are all one subjective consciousness, Experiencing itself.. Nothing is real ?.. And reality, is merely our consciousness creating and evolving experiences.. ?

I like you'r thinking..

reply to post by TechVampyre


Ok i'll be more specific

Reality is an illusion perpetrated by the mind by it's perception and interpretation of of subtle energy/vibrations.

This mad scientist must have created a super computer that's eternally consistent.

This theory denies everyone else's existence. Hypothetically, if I died in this supercomputer all reality stops because reality was only simulated for me judging from your thread. Unless these mad computer scientists has tricked 7 billion people to volunteer in this virtual world and has enough vats to potentially host insurmountable amount of people, if people decided to ragingly reproduce.

Originally posted by GrandKitaro777
This mad scientist must have created a super computer that's eternally consistent.

This theory denies everyone else's existence. Hypothetically, if I died in this supercomputer all reality stops because reality was only simulated for me judging from your thread. Unless these mad computer scientists has tricked 7 billion people to volunteer in this virtual world and has enough vats to potentially host insurmountable amount of people, if people decided to ragingly reproduce.

edit on 28-3-2011 by GrandKitaro777 because: (no reason given)

The vat in the brain theory is HIGHLY OPINIONATED..

It is just one of the many examples of how we can not comprehend what "reality" actually is.. How can i be certain my "reality" is the same as, your's ?..

Originally posted by TechVampyre

Originally posted by GrandKitaro777
This mad scientist must have created a super computer that's eternally consistent.

This theory denies everyone else's existence. Hypothetically, if I died in this supercomputer all reality stops because reality was only simulated for me judging from your thread. Unless these mad computer scientists has tricked 7 billion people to volunteer in this virtual world and has enough vats to potentially host insurmountable amount of people, if people decided to ragingly reproduce.

edit on 28-3-2011 by GrandKitaro777 because: (no reason given)

The vat in the brain theory is HIGHLY OPINIONATED..

It is just one of the many examples of how we can not comprehend what "reality" actually is.. How can i be certain my "reality" is the same as, your's ?..

It's a very unlikely opinion.

Firstly, the "How can I be certain my reality the same as yours" is a statement that doesn't help your argument at all. The only way your reality can differ from mine in "Objective Existence" is if our concept of colors are different. "My red is your blue, my black is your pink, ect."

Subjectively our reality can be different because it's formed by our perspectives and beliefs.

Secondly, it's a unlikely theory because it in fact denies people's existence, if the simulation revolves and is sustained only by you and you happened to die, the simulation stops and everyone else you experience the simulation with cease to exist. Unless you want to take it up another level and call these mad scientists or scientist "God" by controlling 7 billion conscious observers and having myriads of vats waiting to be used if people supersede the 7 billion mark be my guest.

That's exactly the conclusion I came to,.... that our world is nothing but a simulation created by a supreme consciousness (which we are part of) through incredibly complex mathematical formulas. This explains (to me) why our world can so easily be described through mathematics. Our world has rules (physics, etc.) that are incredibly difficult to bypass. Much like an extraordinarily complex video game, you can't do just anything you put your mind to unless you decipher and learn to 'hack' the code. The experience I had really opened my mind to this idea. It was completely unexpected. You can read all about it here if you are interested: Secrets of our Existence and Universe Unraveled

EDIT to add (in case you don't feel like reading through that whole thread): When I was deep in this experience, I realized that we're all part of the consciousness which created absolutely everything around us. I realized why we need to be good to each other. The saying: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" makes absolutely perfect sense to me now, because you are me, I am you, we are the people we love and hate, we are every single thing you can and can't lay your eyes on. We are in this simulation as break-off pieces of the whole, so that the whole (we) can explore all possibilities until it has learned everything about itself that it can, and learn to unite itself.

There's another thread I recently authored. I probably didn't communicate my idea very well, and maybe for this reason it didn't do too well. Molding Our Reality One Person at a Time In it I'm trying to argue that we humans are capable of many great things when we put our minds together. Our sole purpose on this earth seems to be to communicate information and create more minds (future generations through procreation). Without procreating people die, and with them dies the possibility of self-exploration for us, for the whole (the supreme consciousness we are part of). When you think about it, what do we do all day long? We constantly communicate our experiences with others. We ask questions like "How are you?" "What did you do today?" "How is little Joey doing?" etc. etc. Why in hell would we need to know how anyone is doing? Why would we want to listen to people's stories constantly? Why do I care whether or not one of my acquaintances had an affair, and how they got in a fight with their spouse? I care, because I'm hungry for information about experience. We watch movies and reality TV about people having an experience. We play video games of people or characters who are having an experience, overcoming obstacles. We listen to those close and far away describe their experience. It's a constant exchange of seemingly useless information, unless you believe that this information has great value. Otherwise why do we need to communicate with somebody 5,000 miles away? What impact does their affair or fishing trip have on our lives? I could go on with my theories, but I'll stop there for now.

Maybe I'm wrong,.... but that's the idea I'm currently exploring.

reply to post by GrandKitaro777


Aha, Very good sir.. But i think you misinterpret this thread..

The "brain in the vat" theory is one of many.. opinionated theory's surrounding subjective consciousness..

Consider this.. You can not describe to me your reality.. Just as i can not describe mine.. So how are we certain that our reality is identical.. We can't..

And on that note..How am i even certain YOU are not a part of my subjective consciousness..You, and this conversation possibly might not even exist..

So you see my point.. This brings some validity to the brain in the vat theory..

reply to post by 2manyquestions


Thanks for the link to your thread ! I'm looking forward to reading through it, Seems like a curious concept.. But a interesting one none the less..

And, if i could one up you on that.. Consider this for a second.. What if our "reality" is a dream state..and our wakeful state is our dream world.?

This is a interesting concept, As it brings into play reality glitches, and the idea of Dream incubation (inception)..

Originally posted by TechVampyre
reply to post by 2manyquestions

 

Thanks for the link to your thread ! I'm looking forward to reading through it, Seems like a curious concept.. But a interesting one none the less..

And, if i could one up you on that.. Consider this for a second.. What if our "reality" is a dream state..and our wakeful state is our dream world.?

This is a interesting concept, As it brings into play reality glitches, and the idea of Dream incubation (inception)..

Well, according to my experience, to dream life and to live a dream is just another possibility that must eventually be explored and experienced.
By the way, I edited my earlier post to add a few more things to it. Letting you know in case you find it valuable or you want to respond to it.