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I was going to post this in the "superior and trash?" thread, but it digressed too far from the central topic, so I stuck it in its own thread. Just an interesting idea.


I discovered this theory that I started thinking about a long time ago, but I never really delved deeply into the subject. That theory, proposed by an author I love, is known as "consensual reality".
In other words, if everyone else in the world says the chair you're sitting on isn't there, it doesn't exist. Only if your belief is strong enough to go against the world would the chair exist to you. So, if you saw the chair first, and sat on it, before you realized that it didn't exist, you would continue to believe in the chair by the evidence of your own eyes. Basically, you'd be a lunatic, seeing something that just isn't there to anyone else. And perhaps lunacy is just that: a minority of one. If that is confusing, I'm sorry, I'm trying to clarify it...

What I mean is, I live in Las Vegas. You all believe that I live in Las Vegas, correct? I believe that I exist in Las Vegas. And I have a friend that also lives in Las Vegas, who has seen and spoken to me, and knows for sure that I exist. No matter where that person goes, I exist in Las Vegas. Even if they don't think of me, I am there, somewhere in their mind.

However, to someone in say, Bulgaria, I don't exist. Not only do I not exist in Bulgaria, I don't exist in Las Vegas. They have no conception of me. But if my friend were to speak of me, show a citizen of Bulgaria my picture, discuss me and so forth, I would come into being.

...That's probably very confusing, but it's the best I can do. sweatdrop

It really is not confusing at all. As a matter of fact it is one of the things I've been discussing with one of my friends a lot lately. I believe this can even be said about love. If one person in a relationship believes that they love the other and says nothing about it than the other person wouldn't necessarily know that there is the existance of love in their relationship. Does that make sense?

Not confusing, like Alezunde said, just becuse someone dosn't know you, dosn't make you not exist. But A nice way to spend you time. I think I'll bring this up with some people of very low inteligence *Cough*Football players*cough*, and see how they react to it.

Or a dominoe effect that signals the tree's falling. I'm gonna really strech this out here and qoute. I'll be damned if I can remember who said it but here goes"No man is an island unto himself." So just by existing your effecting that person in a far country. Indirectly, but still effecting, and to effect you must exist yes?

((God the only logic I have ever seen that is more circular than that would be from Kimp's football players, or at least their counter-parts. I apologize deeply.))

Now there's an interesting thought. I was going to say "but your parents remember you being born, and you believe that you were born," but then I read the rest of the post.

I guess it depends on who he decides to be, or something like that.

Hmm... kinda confusing but an interesting way to look at things.

Not much... I'll have to look into Priori.

My father said, when I brought it up while we were driving, that perhaps our worlds simply overlap eachother to create the physical world. Because you do not know that you exist. It's not as "simple as that," though it may seems so. And, because I am not you, your view of the world, the way the world is may be completely and totally different than mine. My father's theory was that this is so; because we have never seen the world from someone else's view, it seems likely that the world is different depending on each person. However, he said that there are certain constants between each world. For example, we all see the color green. It may not be even the same green for each person, but we all recognize and classify certain things as green.
Further, we all see certain things, like a tree beside the road. Both my father and I agree that it is a tree. Honestly, I don't know if he's seeing the same thing I am, but I assume so. It could be that he sees something completely different, but it is a tree just the same - he has learned that it is so, and calls it so.
But there are some people whose worlds don't overlap correctly, according to my father, and they see things that others don't. This would be madness.

At any rate, I don't think that there is necessarily a "physical world" in the way that you describe it. Again, it seems like common sense, and probably is common sense. You're probably completely correct. However, I do not know this, and cannot unless I were able to see the world exactly as you see it. If that makes any sense.