I'm about to start on my classes this fall, and the one I'm most looking forward to besides Japanese 301 is an introduction to Philosophy.
I was checking out Wikipedia for some quick, generalized knowledge on the expanse of Philosphy because I know that my dad and I have have philosophical discussions in the past and it's really something I feel is a strength of mine.
I found this one part of Philosophy called "Idealism." Now, when I read it, I immediately knew what was meant by it. For reference:
"Idealism is the epistemological doctrine that nothing can be directly known outside of the minds of thinking beings. Or in an alternative stronger form, it is the metaphysical doctrine that nothing exists apart from minds and the "contents" of minds"
Basically, it's the belief that there is no real world, no objects that we hold, nothing we see or touch is really real, it's all in our mind. It's really a trippy idea, and it reminded me of a "dream" I had when I was really young.
Actually, it was more of an idea.
I started out by making a character. I don't remember much except that the character started to lose their mind. It turned into a movie setting, and the fear and aprehension of the character became the focus--
They would be sitting in bed under the covers, and everything would look normal. Nothing would appear out of the ordinary-- what they perceived in their mind was that the room was empty. However, their senses started picking up... reality. What reality was... was that they had a hand wrapped around their ankle, digging fingernails into their skin. They would rip the sheets off to look for the hand... and there would be nothing. No marks from the nails, no bugs or bites to falsify the sensation. Nothing was seen, their perception continued to be normal... just sitting in bed alone. But that wasn't reality-- that was just what they imagined in their head.
Later, it got worse. The alternate reality that they couldn't see started to get larger... now there was something that could move them around, pull them out of bed, push them off their feet. They didn't know what was causing it, and what part was being imagined.
Was there anything they could do to stop it? Were they crazy, or was it something more?
Philosophically, there's nothing to stop you from believing that your mind has the power to separate the senses--- to eat something and never taste it or feel it in your mouth, to feel sensations caused by something you cannot see, to pull your eyes out all while still being able to see and look at your hand holding your own eyes, signifying that the sight you imagined and protected for so long is only a mirage, and that what you see is all in your mind already. Your imagination, however, might be under a protection, to never allow you to break outside the realm of reality.
So what about those people that see hallucinations? Ghosts? What of it is real and what isn't? Is there never a point where what we can see and what we can't overlap?
When I was younger I used to sense spirits in my room, it freaked me out but I didn't want to say anything. Was I imagining it? Was it real?
Just questions.
I was checking out Wikipedia for some quick, generalized knowledge on the expanse of Philosphy because I know that my dad and I have have philosophical discussions in the past and it's really something I feel is a strength of mine.
I found this one part of Philosophy called "Idealism." Now, when I read it, I immediately knew what was meant by it. For reference:
"Idealism is the epistemological doctrine that nothing can be directly known outside of the minds of thinking beings. Or in an alternative stronger form, it is the metaphysical doctrine that nothing exists apart from minds and the "contents" of minds"
Basically, it's the belief that there is no real world, no objects that we hold, nothing we see or touch is really real, it's all in our mind. It's really a trippy idea, and it reminded me of a "dream" I had when I was really young.
Actually, it was more of an idea.
I started out by making a character. I don't remember much except that the character started to lose their mind. It turned into a movie setting, and the fear and aprehension of the character became the focus--
They would be sitting in bed under the covers, and everything would look normal. Nothing would appear out of the ordinary-- what they perceived in their mind was that the room was empty. However, their senses started picking up... reality. What reality was... was that they had a hand wrapped around their ankle, digging fingernails into their skin. They would rip the sheets off to look for the hand... and there would be nothing. No marks from the nails, no bugs or bites to falsify the sensation. Nothing was seen, their perception continued to be normal... just sitting in bed alone. But that wasn't reality-- that was just what they imagined in their head.
Later, it got worse. The alternate reality that they couldn't see started to get larger... now there was something that could move them around, pull them out of bed, push them off their feet. They didn't know what was causing it, and what part was being imagined.
Was there anything they could do to stop it? Were they crazy, or was it something more?
Philosophically, there's nothing to stop you from believing that your mind has the power to separate the senses--- to eat something and never taste it or feel it in your mouth, to feel sensations caused by something you cannot see, to pull your eyes out all while still being able to see and look at your hand holding your own eyes, signifying that the sight you imagined and protected for so long is only a mirage, and that what you see is all in your mind already. Your imagination, however, might be under a protection, to never allow you to break outside the realm of reality.
So what about those people that see hallucinations? Ghosts? What of it is real and what isn't? Is there never a point where what we can see and what we can't overlap?
When I was younger I used to sense spirits in my room, it freaked me out but I didn't want to say anything. Was I imagining it? Was it real?
Just questions.
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