"[S]ensory data is very unreliable. If I look at you, am I seeing you? Actually what I 'see' is an image my brain forms in response to my eyes' exposure to reflected light. That's third-hand information at best.
"Follow that one down the road of rationalistic discourse and you get solipsism, the conviction that I am the only thing that can be said to exist. Ironically, on coming to this conclusion, many people start trying to persuade others of it. 'No one exists but me... I must share this truth with everyone!'"
i hadn't actually heard of it before the phrase occurred to me but the concept does seem to exist
ReplyDeleteHere's a good one:
ReplyDelete"[S]ensory data is very unreliable. If I look at you, am I seeing you? Actually what I 'see' is an image my brain forms in response to my eyes' exposure to reflected light. That's third-hand information at best.
"Follow that one down the road of rationalistic discourse and you get solipsism, the conviction that I am the only thing that can be said to exist. Ironically, on coming to this conclusion, many people start trying to persuade others of it. 'No one exists but me... I must share this truth with everyone!'"
--http://permutedpress.com/smf/index.php?topic=2659.90;wap2