Reality is an illusion
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Huruma
Members Posts: 2,284 ✭✭✭
There is no inherent 'essence' that makes a car, a computer, a tree, a human, a rock or any other physical system in the world that thing. When you dismantle the parts that a car is made up of, there's no inherent property or characteristic that makes a car truly a 'car' and fundamentally different from a bicycle rather than a complicated arrangement of the subatomic particles that cars are made up of. We have the illusion of things being solid, distinct objects but nothing exists in the way that it appears to.
There is no immaterial 'soul' or 'mind' in the brain that makes us who we are either. The brain is just a complicated system of neurons that perceive electrical and chemical information subjectively but none of those neurons have the traits or characteristics that we associate with ourselves as 'minds', they just react to environmental stimuli like every other physical object in nature and we experience the illusion of 'choosing' to behave the way that we do even though our behavior is determined by our interaction with external stimuli. The mind is an illusory construct created and experienced by the brain. What's even more interesting is that every atom in every neuron in your brain will be replaced by the end of the year and it's statistically likely that an atom in one of my neurons will eventually replace or be replaced by an atom in one of Gaddafi's neurons (apparently). There is no permanent, central observer in the brain with a constant identity, only a collection of subatomic particles that experience the illusion of being a single mind. This makes me feel connected to nature as a whole, every atom that I'm comprised of comes from ancient, long dead stars that released the elements necessary for life when they exploded, these elements never existed in the primeval universe.
We don't even have reliable access to the external world since the brain has to rearrange sensory stimuli into electrical signals that it can process. It would be naive to assume that natural selection has necessarily favored human brains to see and experience the world as it actually is rather than in a way that is most adaptive or enhances reproductive fitness.
Even typing this, I'm not actually touching my keyboard or sitting on my chair since the electrons in my fingers and the electrons of my laptop repel one another.
There is no immaterial 'soul' or 'mind' in the brain that makes us who we are either. The brain is just a complicated system of neurons that perceive electrical and chemical information subjectively but none of those neurons have the traits or characteristics that we associate with ourselves as 'minds', they just react to environmental stimuli like every other physical object in nature and we experience the illusion of 'choosing' to behave the way that we do even though our behavior is determined by our interaction with external stimuli. The mind is an illusory construct created and experienced by the brain. What's even more interesting is that every atom in every neuron in your brain will be replaced by the end of the year and it's statistically likely that an atom in one of my neurons will eventually replace or be replaced by an atom in one of Gaddafi's neurons (apparently). There is no permanent, central observer in the brain with a constant identity, only a collection of subatomic particles that experience the illusion of being a single mind. This makes me feel connected to nature as a whole, every atom that I'm comprised of comes from ancient, long dead stars that released the elements necessary for life when they exploded, these elements never existed in the primeval universe.
We don't even have reliable access to the external world since the brain has to rearrange sensory stimuli into electrical signals that it can process. It would be naive to assume that natural selection has necessarily favored human brains to see and experience the world as it actually is rather than in a way that is most adaptive or enhances reproductive fitness.
Even typing this, I'm not actually touching my keyboard or sitting on my chair since the electrons in my fingers and the electrons of my laptop repel one another.
Comments
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put your cat back in your avi you mope
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thanks morphius....now take ur prescription and then a nap
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Lol.. sometimes reading is not fundamental.
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copy and paste >
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You went way too complex with this anyways.
A friend of mine believes there is no freewill, as we are all just matter, and as such our choices and lifestyles are predetermined according to what kind of matter we are made of.
I disagree entirely however.
How is free will possible from a naturalistic point of view (or do you not ascribe to naturalism)? Why would the human brain be the only physical entity that isn't influenced by external stimuli? The very fact that we can even study the brain, that it's behavior is organized and predictable, implies causality. -
yo I got stung by a bee or atleast my mind thinks so
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The most peculiar thing happens to me it feels as if my mind tells me no sometimes.. But other times it feel as if my body is telling me yea?
Thoughts Huruma? -
playmaker88 wrote: »The most peculiar thing happens to me it feels as if my mind tells me no sometimes.. But other times it feel as if my body is telling me yea?
Thoughts Huruma?
*Barack Obama voice* "uhhh,...there ain't nothin' wrong.... with a little bump 'n' grind..." (hand motions included) -
? love to make these ol' pseudo-intellectual existential ? ass threads
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If what u think is reality and u think that reality is reality then why is reality and illusion??
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copperkid27 wrote: »If what u think is reality and u think that reality is reality then why is reality and illusion??
What we experience is perceptually real but it doesn't exist in objective reality the way that it appears to. -
*Barack Obama voice* "uhhh,...there ain't nothin' wrong.... with a little bump 'n' grind..." (hand motions included)
Lmao.. i thought you were in too deep to realize. i was ? with you.. haha well played sir.. well played.. -
Reality wouldn't be the Illusion because it's here, you can run straight into a tree 100 times and each time you will hit a solid tree, you will never make it disappear or go through it. There's no Illusion in that.
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that kind of thinking wont help adapt with reality
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Body is nothing more than emptiness,
emptiness is nothing more than body.
The body is exactly empty,
and emptiness is exactly body.
The other four aspects of human existence --
feeling, thought, will, and consciousness --
are likewise nothing more than emptiness,
and emptiness nothing more than they.
All things are empty:
Nothing is born, nothing dies,
nothing is pure, nothing is stained,
nothing increases and nothing decreases.
So, in emptiness, there is no body,
no feeling, no thought,
no will, no consciousness.
There are no eyes, no ears,
no nose, no tongue,
no body, no mind.
There is no seeing, no hearing,
no smelling, no tasting,
no touching, no imagining.
There is nothing seen, nor heard,
nor smelled, nor tasted,
nor touched, nor imagined.
There is no ignorance,
and no end to ignorance.
There is no old age and death,
and no end to old age and death.
There is no suffering, no cause of suffering,
no end to suffering, no path to follow.
There is no attainment of wisdom,
and no wisdom to attain.
The Bodhisattvas rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and so with no delusions,
they feel no fear,
and have Nirvana here and now.
All the Buddhas,
past, present, and future,
rely on the Perfection of Wisdom,
and live in full enlightenment.
The Perfection of Wisdom is the greatest mantra.
It is the clearest mantra,
the highest mantra,
the mantra that removes all suffering.
This is truth that cannot be doubted.
Say it so:
Gaté,
gaté,
paragaté,
parasamgaté.
Bodhi!
Svaha!
Which means...
Gone,
gone,
gone over,
gone fully over.
Awakened!
So be it!
.......... -
Well, since it's impossible for humans to objectively observe their surroundings, what humans consider "reality" could qualify as a form of illusion. However, that doesn't automatically mean that "nothing exists in the way that it appears to. "
Not just ones genetic make-up, but their experiences and environment as well.So you feel as though man has no choice?
Murderers are in jail because thats the future their DNA dictates for them?
I post on the IC because that is what my DNA call for?
no, it doesnt work like that. -
lol why not? There are specific personalities which are most likely to post on internet forums, and the IC is just broad enough of a board to attract different people's interests.So you feel as though man has no choice?
Murderers are in jail because thats the future their DNA dictates for them?
I post on the IC because that is what my DNA call for?
no, it doesnt work like that. -
What are "illusions"?
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There is free will. I refuse to believe other wise.
the word "freewill" is kind of oxymoronic. Will means "deliberate" , "free" mean no control or obligation, no restrictions. The very act of "choosing" introduces limitation, or restricting oneself to a specific thing(s). -
So you saying there is no spoon?
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In the context of this thread, I think best definition would be "b (1) : perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature".Hyde Parke wrote: »What are "illusions"? -
Nah, there is no "is".So you saying there is no spoon?
Or, at least, the "is" that humans believe to be so could be incorrect. -
inception, matrix, master yoda ass thread
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fiat_money wrote: »In the context of this thread, I think best definition would be "b (1) : perception of something objectively existing in such a way as to cause misinterpretation of its actual nature".
good definition . then in this context, it could be perceived as merely a description, nonetheless, a description of an actual thing(s), thereby debunking the entire theory that an actuality is non actual. The very act of identifying a non actual as actual proves its existence in some form. -
Why is it that every time there is a thread which poses questions which requires that we delve beyond the realms where we normally function the above responses follow?
If you find it that stupid then close out and keep moving. Knowledge is garnered through intellectual and philosophical discussion. The brother's premise is neither ridiculous or without basis.
Every "MAN" at some time of the other finds himself at a place where he questions the actual meaning of his mortality and existence.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c9-XaA2f00
