quote:
Originally posted by Chancer
If you think we are really dreaming, that's because "somewhere" "we" are sleeping. So, when we wake up, that will be "real life". Therefore, there is a real life.
Consequently, your argument is not valid.
I think his point is that we have no real physical form and there exists no Earth or solar system, our entire world is just a 'pulse of energy' (or something like that) which gave rise to a (his) consciousness which in turn imagined an entire universe i.e. as the world came into being with him, so it will disappear as he ceases to be.
quote:
But I have convinced myself that there is absolutely nothing in the world, no sky, no earth, no minds, no bodies. Does it now follow that I too do not exist? No. If I convinced myself of something [or thought anything at all] then I certainly existed. But there is a deceiver of supreme power and cunning who is deliberately and constantly deceiving me. In that case I too undoubtedly exist, if he is deceiving me; and let him deceive me as much as he can, he will never bring it about that I am nothing so long as I think that I am something. So, after considering everything very thoroughly, I must finally conclude that the proposition, I am, I exist, is necessarily true whenever it is put forward by me or conceived in my mind.
Cogito, ergo sum (Latin: "I think, therefore I am")
"I think, therefore I am" - I know I (my consciousness) exist, but how do I know that anything else does?