Then how is it that we happen to have these two distinct words? — Banno
There is a difference between being hit by a truck and having the illusion of being hit by a truck. — Banno
Things looks like either we are in an infinite number of hypothetical worlds or in the real world. So it's not even that there's an equal chance of either being the case, there's an infinite number of options on one side and only one option on the other. — Manuel
The possibility that reality could be an illusion is predicated on our inability to distinguish reality from illusion (deus deceptor, brain in a vat, simulation). In other words reality is, in every sense, identical to illusion. If so, it doesn't matter if we're in an illusion or reality, right? Both are, if you really think about it, one and the same thing. Were they not, the question, "are we in an illusion?" would never have seen the light of day so to speak. — TheMadFool
Then how is it that we happen to have these two distinct words?
There is a difference between being hit by a truck and having the illusion of being hit by a truck. — Banno
The possibility that reality could be an illusion is predicated on our inability to distinguish reality from illusion (deus deceptor, brain in a vat, simulation). In other words reality is, in every sense, identical to illusion. — TheMadFool
There is a difference between what is and what we can perceive. There are two distinct words, illusion and reality, because there are differences between what is an illusion and what is reality. However, that does not mean that we can perceive that difference when we encounter illusions or reality in our lives. If the experience of getting hit by a truck in a world of illusion is the same as the experience of getting hit by a truck in reality then how would you tell the difference? Furthermore, if all you have ever experienced is the world of the illusion then how would you even know what a real truck feels like? — Andrew F
Tell me, given the choice betwixt the illusion of being hit by a truck, and being hit by a truck, which would you choose? — Banno
Y'see, even in positing the all-encompassing illusion, you are contrasting the illusion with reality; and ipso facto, positing reality. — Banno
The problem with this question is that it is not a matter of which one I would want to get hit by, but which one I do in fact get hit by. — Andrew F
I'm not sure what positing reality has to do with whether or not we are in an illusion or reality. — Andrew F
The main question for me is, what kind of evidence do I have that our world is an illusion or reality? — Andrew F
Except those in reality could turn off our illusion at any time. :grimace: — Down The Rabbit Hole
I think what you describe is one possibility, but the one does not necessarily follow from the other. It is possible that both our reality and the more fundamental reality are the same in many ways, but it is also possible that they are not. We can only imagine them as the same because it is impossible to imagine anything beyond the limits of our understanding. That is the only reason the examples we come up with are so grounded in our own reality. However, the real source of the problem is in the fact that we have no way to "look behind the curtain" so to speak and see whether our reality is independent or dependent on another reality. — Andrew F
Are you saying something like, "you don't know what you don't know?" Meaning, you can never know how much more knowledge potentially lies beyond your current understanding, and so you could always doubt whether, using your example, you are truly awakened? — Andrew F
I'm not really sure. Some people are inquisitive or skeptical and they imagine possible explanations for the existence of our world. — Andrew F
I never said that we couldn't have an illusion within an illusion à la The Truman Show. Jim Carrey's acting was superb. — TheMadFool
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