Solipsism and Solipsists in Religion Settings

[MineralMan]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solipsism

It's an interesting thing to think about, really. From time to time, one encounters a solipsist, although it can be a very difficult philosophy to maintain, even in a world that only exists in one's own mind.

There may be an epistemological solipsist in our midst, though, I think. That would explain a great deal. However, I remain uncertain about this.

I won't bore people with a lengthy discussion of solipsism, though. The Wikipedia link can do that better than I.

[abqtommy]

1. I almost understood that

but it solipsismed out of my grasp!

[sprinkleeninow]

2. Say those 2 words in sequence 3X FAST! 😁

Are them anything like dangling participles? 🤔

[dweller]

3. am not surprised at the limited response

but I recc'd t see if there would be response...

personally I view solipsism from a philosophical approach, not religious ... and also from a psycholological stand where I am able to place it in the right perspective

ymmv

✌🏼️

[Bretton Garcia]

4. Some religion believes we can change the world with a prayer, a word

Last edited Sat May 18, 2019, 03:44 AM - Edit history (3)

That view seems compatible with solipsism. If we or someone created the world, then probably we can change the world. Maybe with just a thought, or a word.

Seems like a potentially unhealthy view though. What if solipsism is wrong? If you think you create, run the world, other people, then, say, you could lose respect for others. Or? Start believing your own delusions.

On the other hand, a milder version - found in liberalism, existentialism - suggests that we ARE at least PARTLY responsible for our reality. And should take responsibility for that.

Those of us whose words are influential, and seem to be changing things around us, are at times prone to solipsism. And related to that, egotism.

One way to get over solipsism though? Is to stop to think about all the times the world taught you things you probably never would've thought of yourself

[Journeyman]

5. I fear at times that solipsism may be my fate . . .

Maybe my life is all solipsism and I create whatever pleasure or hell that is the world around me reflected in my mind. As I age and deteriorate, so does the vision. We started out so strong, so youthful, so full of desires and bursting with hope, and now the slow roll towards chaos and decay is taking its toll. What else could explain Jack Kennedy in our youth, Red Don in his dotage?

[MineralMan]

6. Nah. All of that is evidence that solipsism is false, actually.

Last edited Sat May 18, 2019, 11:43 AM - Edit history (1)

Would you have created the world you now live in? I know I wouldn't have. Are you part of someone else's world creation? Seems damned unlikely to me.

There's a world my brain creates sometimes, but those are dreams. All sorts of weird shit happens in my dreams. But, then, I wake up and Donald Trump really is in the White House. Even my dreams aren't that weird.

On the other hand, people have succeeded in creating gods that suit their needs, over and over again. But, there's no actual evidence that such creations exist, except in people's minds. And think about it, if you can create an omnipotent deity, why aren't thinks going your way all the time? I mean, omnipotence means something, after all.

Solipsism lets individuals think they understand stuff and know stuff, though. For example, someone might think he or she understands exactly what an atheist is and might believe that he or she can predict exactly what atheists believe. That person might "know" that atheists really have the belief that gods exist but are able to suppress that belief. So, that someone might think he or she can quantify and define atheism.

Its a depressing sort of world view, though. Solipsists are forever failing to get things right, so they must think that their ability to create the universe around them is somehow defective. That would depress me no end. So, I look at it all as pretty much random, but random within boundaries. It's sort of like a computer random number generation algorithm. It's really only pseudo-random. For all intents and purposes the numbers it generates are random enough, but most such algorithms will also accept a seed number. They're not really random at all, although they certainly appear to be.

One of the shareware programs I used to sell was a LOTTO number picker. It would generate random lottery number selections and display them on a state lottery ticket simulation for you. It sold pretty well, actually. One of its features was its "personal secret number" entered by the player. The program's pseudo-randomizer used that number as a seed. Now, that personalized the randomization just fine, but it didn't matter, except to the person using the program. It had nothing to do with the odds of winning a lottery, but had a significant psychological effect on its users. As far as I know, nobody who bought the program ever won a Lottery. Its most frequent purchasers were from Spain, since a Spanish-language version was available that produced a beautiful image of that country's lottery ticket you could print out.

Nota Bene: The randomizer for the quick pick lottery tickets is also only a pseudo-random algorithm.

[Voltaire2]

7. Well you are living in a world your mind created.

Where solipsism goes wrong is by asserting that your mental construct of the world is the true nature of reality. It obviously isn’t. The related Idealists like for example Berkeley attempted to accommodate the obvious fact that our minds are not in control of this reality they are supposedly generating by inserting an Uber-mind, ie God, to explain why I can’t just will myself a winning lottery ticket.

[MineralMan]

8. For some, it gets conflated with the shoe "matrix"

nonsense. The moment you put another entity in control, solipsism becomes false.