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QOTD Thread #332- Do you think that people should keep cats outdoors?
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Post by
952951
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
MyTie
This is why it's derp.
Is it really necessary to come here just to complain about the question?
Post by
240140
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
MyTie
How do I know that I am?
As in how do I know I exist?
What is the alternative? Being a dream? A work of fiction? A coma? I don't know and I don't understand.
But everything I am experiencing today has to be because of a reason, if I exist, even if only in a dream, 'I am'.
When you say "because of reason", do you mean the reason in the sense of "reason to be", as in, you are here for a purpose, and the purpose is what proves existence?
Post by
donnymurph
I just think it's a kind of stupid question for a thread like this. Not interesting at all.
I agree. I like the idea of "deeper" QOTD questions (and I think Elhonna has had some good ones so far) but this particular question isn't really QOTD material.
The idea of this thread is to share a little insight into our lifestyle or our personality. Not to debate meaningless semantics.
Post by
EdantheDwarf
I am going to suggest the next question: Are you good a poetry?
As to today's quest. Let me attack it form the side. 1000 years from now humans have these robots. They are self replicating to the max of their environment, aging they eat, sleep, and carry per-programed reactions to somethings. I am going to say they are called ducks. They method of programing is in DNA. They fly, lay eggs and have instincts, even go quack . Is the duck really a duck or is it a robot? I say if it quacks like a duck walks like a duck its a duck. People are people because we are people. I am be because I am me.
Post by
MyTie
Edan, are you a Phillip K @#$%
fan
?
Post by
OverZealous
I do not know that I exist. How could I? Sure, I
believe
that I exist. I hope that I do, or things would be pretty sad. But I can't be sure.
Post by
Patty
I don't and won't. But the question is really inconsequential. Agree with Elura, Jubilee and FatalHeaven, really.
Post by
Orranis
Cogito ergo sum.
I may not exist in the form I think I exist, but whatever I am I must be something for consciousness to exist, even if I am only a concsiousness. I mean, it kind of boils down to how you define 'existence.'
And I agree, this is really for a debate not for a question.
Post by
Magician22773
This is why it's derp.
Is it really necessary to come here just to complain about the question?
Yes it is. I like this thread and I think the questions Elhonna come up with everyday are fun and it's fun to read everyones answer. I don't think she should listen to you and end up with questions that really don't allow us to learn anything about each other.
I think we learned a lot from this question.
Some people like deeper, more philosophical questions.
Some people like to post lighthearted answers to those types of questions.
Some people like to debate.
Some people like to complain.
I think, in fact, we learned much more from some people's answers than just what they thought about their existence.
Post by
gamerunknown
I have enough observational data to prove that other people exist, to me, anyways.
There's the problem of simple enumeration though.
Post by
Orangutan
Cogito ergo sum.
Cogito, ergo nom.
Post by
Interest
The NEW QOTD Thread: #94- How do you know that you are?
Because my name is secretly Descartes.
Post by
Skreeran
Cogito ergo sum.
I may not exist in the form I think I exist, but whatever I am I must be something for consciousness to exist, even if I am only a concsiousness. I mean, it kind of boils down to how you define 'existence.'
And I agree, this is really for a debate not for a question.I would agree with this from a philosophical perspective. The mere fact that I am answering this question assumes that I exist in some form or another. Even if I'm merely a lively character in another persons dream, to some extent or another, I exist. I think that is one of the most basic observations one can make about the universe.
But on a different philosophical level, I don't really think the question matters. I exist, for all intents and purposes. As far as my own life goes, I
seem
to exist. Tying my mind in knots puzzling over whether I can prove %100 whether I exist or not serves no useful purpose to me. It reveals no new information about the universe, nor does it provide any sort of philosophical truths I can put to use in my life. All it does is go "Ha ha, you can't prove it, you can't prove it!"
This is why falsifiability is so important in science. It's very, very easy to suggest something and not be able to prove it wrong. An infinite number of scenarios can be posed that are impossible to prove wrong, "I do not exist" being one of them. The only thing that makes any individual hypothesis interesting, from a scientific perspective, is being able to think of a way that you
could
prove it wrong.
Post by
Squishalot
I believe this thread works out better when it's not a debate thread. The question had promise, but wasn't helped by pushing it down the discussion/debate path where people start criticising others' comments.
If you want a
debate / in-depth discussion
on existentialism, create a separate thread for that, guys.
Post by
Adamsm
Works for me. #94- how do you know that you are?
I am what I am, as Popeye was fond of saying.
Do I know what I am? Am I just an ethereal force wrapped up in a meat sack? Is my soul which is on the endless cycle of reincarnation to bring it to the side of the Great One? Are we all just fleas on the back of some massive Dog?
I can't answer it and I don't think anyone can, no matter how you argue over semantics.
Post by
Rankkor
While I made a more silly goofy response a few pages back (I was too busy chewing pop corn as other posters argued amongst themselves) here is my more serious answer:
I don't bother with existentialism at all.
I live on the moment, the here and the now. I know I exist because I live on in the memories of the people that love me, I know I exist because my actions cause a reaction in them, almost all of them favorable.
I don't bother to dwell on answers that ultimately don't change my present, or my future. Stuff like "What if" or "why".
Stuff happens, I react, I adapt, I live.
Nothing else matters.
Post by
Atik
Do I know if I exist? Not really.
Does it matter? Fel no...
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