Some of the things that we accept as true and take at face value are notoriously wrong.
Scientists and philosophers have made every effort to change our common perceptions of it. The 10 examples below will show you what I mean.
Big Freeze is the theory of the final state that our universe is heading toward. The universe has a limited supply of energy. According to this theory, when that energy finally runs out, the universe will devolve into a frozen state.
The thermal energy produced by the motion of the particles will gradually wear out, which means that eventually, this particle motion will slow down and, presumably, one day, everything will stop.
Solipsism is a philosophical theory, which asserts that nothing exists but the individual’s consciousness. At first, it seems silly, but if you think about it, it really is impossible to verify anything but your own consciousness.
To check this out, take a moment to recall all the dreams that you have experienced in your life. Is it not possible that everything around you is nothing but an incredibly intricate dream? But, you may say, there are people and things around us that we cannot doubt because we can hear, see, smell, taste, and feel them, right?
Yes, and no. People who take LSD, for example, say that they can touch the most convincing hallucinations, but we do not claim that their visions are a “reality”. Your dreams can simulate sensations as well. After all, what you perceive is just a product of the information processing that takes place in different sections of your brain.
As a result, which parts of existence can we not doubt? Probably none. Each of us can only be sure of their own thoughts.
George Berkeley, the father of Idealism, argued that everything exists as an idea in someone’s mind. Berkley discovered that some of his peers considered his theory to be stupid. The story goes that one of his opponents kicked a stone with his eyes closed and said, “I disprove it thus!”
The idea was that if the stone really only existed in his imagination, he could not have kicked it with his eyes closed. The way Berkeley refuted this is hard to understand, especially in these days. He argued that there was an omnipotent and omnipresent God who was able to see everything simultaneously.
Everybody has heard of Plato. He is one of the world’s most famous philosophers. Like all philosophers, he had a few things to say about the nature of reality. He argued that beyond our perceived reality, there lies a world of “perfect” forms.
Everything that we see is just a shade, an imitation of how things truly are. To learn more about these ideas, read about Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, which is a sort of the ‘Matrix‘ in its ancient version.
Plato argued that by studying philosophy, we have a chance of catching a glimpse of how things truly are and discovering the perfect forms of everything we perceive.
In addition to this stunning statement, Plato, being a monist, said that everything is made of a single substance. This means (according to him) that everything – from stars in the sky to the dust under your bed – consists of the same basic material, but in a different form. With the discovery of atoms and molecules, it has been proven true to an extent.
Time is something that we perceive as a reality. Of course, we usually divide it into the past, present and future. Presentism argues that the past and the future are imagined concepts while only the present is real.
In other words, today’s breakfast and every word of this article will cease to exist after you finish reading it until you open it to read it again. The future is just as imaginary because the time cannot exist before and after it happened, as claimed by St. Augustine.
Eternalism is the exact opposite of presentism. This is a philosophical theory that says that time is multi-layered. All layers of the time exist simultaneously, but the measurement is determined by the observer. What they see depends on which point they are looking at.
Thus, dinosaurs, Queen Victoria and Justin Bieber all exist simultaneously but can only be observed from a specific location. If one takes this view of reality, then the future is hopeless and the deterministic free will is illusory.
The “brain in a jar” thought experiment is a question discussed by thinkers and scientists who, like most people, believe that one’s understanding of reality depends solely on their subjective feelings.
So, what is the essence of this thought experiment? Imagine that you are just a brain in a jar that is run by aliens or mad scientists. How would you know? And can you truly deny the possibility that this is your reality?
This is a modern interpretation of Descartes’ evil demon problem. This thought experiment leads to the same conclusion: we cannot confirm the actual existence of anything except our consciousness.
If this seems to sound reminiscent of the movie “The Matrix“, it is only because this idea was part of the very basis of the story. Unfortunately, in reality, we have no red pills…
Anyone who has not spent the last ten years on a desert island has heard of “the multiverse” or parallel universes at least once. As many of us have seen, parallel words, in theory, are worlds very similar to ours, with little (or in some cases, large) changes or differences. The multiverse theory speculates that there could exist an infinite number of these alternate realities.
What’s the point? In a parallel reality, you may be living in the opposite corner of the world or may have already died in a car crash. In another one, you might have never even been born because your parents never met. The probabilities are endless.
This is probably the most fascinating branch of the multiverse theory. Superman is real. Yes, some of you would probably choose a different story, for argument’s sake, Harry Potter might be real too.
This branch of the theory argues that given an infinite number of universes, everything must exist somewhere. So, all of our favorite fiction and fantasy may be descriptive of an alternate universe, one where all the right pieces came into place to make it happen.
Everyone is interested in what happens to things when we aren’t looking at them. Scientists have carefully studied this problem and some of them came to a simple conclusion – they disappear. Well, not quite like this.
Phenomenalist philosophers believe that objects only exist as a phenomenon of consciousness. So, your laptop is only here while you are aware of it and believe in its existence, but when you turn away from it, it ceases to exist until you or someone else interacts with it. There is no existence without perception. This is the root of phenomenalism.
Which of these mind-blowing theories about the nature of reality appeal to you most of all? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
H/T listverse.com
art by Victoria Audouard
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I find number ten to be more of a concept than a philosophy. It falls into the concept of the out of sight, out of mind concept. With the advancement of scientific technology we’ve learned that just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. We obviously know that just because a tree falls in the forest with no one around to hear it come crashing down does not mean it doesn’t make a sound.
Plato theory seems to be very close to what I have experienced. In India, such topics are discussed in great depth by the people who had and who have very deep knowledge and experience about it.
In brief an example :...... there is a dinner set made of say stainless steel...... forks, spoons, bowls, plates, glasses, knives, so on.....
Keep all of these at one place together and ask what do you see ? spoons, glasses, plates, bowls, knives, forks ? Obviously as the question asked is very simple but........ misunderstood (due to lack of "that" experience or "knowledge").
The right answer is....... you see (only) same stainless steel in different shapes made for different purposes......
This is how exactly ..... there is a power / element / substance / what ever we can name it because to name it we only have what all we humans created....... if we see anything first time in our life we tend to try to compare it first to find an appropriate name for what we have seen first time..... am I right ?
This power is omnipresent in everything we see, feel, imagine, think, visualize, dream of, it is always there, present with its state which can only be experienced and cannot told or shown or drawn or explained by any available means except........ can be experienced by self.
That power is the true form of anything which exists, rest all is a mere illusion of course.....
We believe it exists in our bodies also which we recognize or call as "The Soul", which is a smallest possible part of this omnipresent power inside the body.....
That is what we are actually and not this body and its belongings we carry everywhere till we are alive.
Example in easy words : Take an empty glass made of glass, keep it on a table upside down. What is there inside the glass ?
Trapped air ( but cannot be seen), which is a part of the air everywhere (which cannot be seen ), in the atmosphere.
Now slide/move this glass as it is on the table from one place to another..... what is happening ? The trapped air inside the glass goes or travels where all this glass goes.
Now take a small hammer and hit the glass from outside to just create a crack or you can break it also..... what happens ?
The body (glass) is broken and hence does not exist anymore, but the air trapped inside got merged into the air in atmosphere and became the whole amount of that huge, giant air in the atmosphere......
The Soul in the body also gets merged with the omnipresent power when the body is dead...... but it further has some rules to get merged, if those were not followed by the body or body owner (when the body was alive), the soul cannot get merged into the omnipresent power...... this further has an interesting truth to be shared....
Thank you for your patients...... :-)
I believe that in a sense all of these theories coexist and are controlled by an outside source that predetermins the outcome of our subconscious reality.
I would like to share an analogy that has helped me to define the boundary between the physics of energy and spirituality of consciousness. The theories described here seem to merge these two aspects and so complicate understanding either one.
The definition of life as a design capable of directing energy to a purpose allows this distinction to be made.
If you imagine energy as the wind, the design of life becomes a sailboat. With sails and keel the boat can direct the flow of the wind to any shore. Most importantly, the hand on the tiller provides the intent.
Likewise, the study of physics attempts to define the wind and its origins. In this study we find mechanics but not intent. When we finally reach our goal of unifying the mechanics of energy in our universe, the nature of the wind will be laid bare. Then we can concentrate on a new branch of science to study the origin of intent.
TO SIMPLIFY - I AM AMUSED AND AMAZED - I LIVE AND LOVE IN MY UNIVERSE (THE ONE SONG) - I AM HAPPY AND GLAD TO HAVE THIS TIME TO LIVE - MY DREAMS ARE COMING TRUE - I WORRY ABOUT NOTHING - THERE MAY BE OTHER WAYS - THIS IS MY WAY - BON VOYAGE!!
Is that a quote? Our is that your own reality? I like it, shows wisdom of someone "or thing" that their at peace with there reality.