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Nothing exists outside of my mind?
I live by this philosophy which can be called solipsism. basically it's the belief that since nothing can be proven to exist outside of my mind, one might as well just believe that the mind is the origin of everything and that they in effect might as well have created the universe themselves in their mind or just have little attachment to any concept or basis of fact or reality.
i can convince myself of anything just through exercising my beliefs and reasoning with myself until it makes sense to me.
for example if i want to 'psyche' myself out of feeling guilty about something that happened, i just tell myself that because it's in the past, it doesn't exist anymore and if it isn't now, it can follow that it might as well never have existed, so i don't feel bad at all. it's becoming automatic; i have hardly any conscience, and i feel as though i could do something mean to anyone and it really wouldn't affect me and i could either just put it away and not care that i did it, or convince myself it never happened.
in a way i feel like it makes me stronger to think like this? i can just carry on with my life and not deal with emotional struggle. i'm the one in control, it's almost like i've brainwashed myself or maybe i've like cracked the code and found the truth about life that i wasn't supposed to find. i feel like my brain could have subconsciously invented everything before i was aware of it, as a cover up to the fact that nothing actually exists. science, and everything i've ever learned... my family, the planet itself, everything COULD exist just inside my head, and any proof that it exists outside of my head could also just be a figment of my imagination.
i feel as though even if i'm completely wrong, it won't matter. because i'm only aware of my own mind, so i'll never know anything other than what i believe, and this is what gets me through the day. it's almost like my own self contained religion, so i guess i could call myself my own god, without trying to sound too controversial about it.
i don't think i have control over every detail of the world, i just feel like i planted it and i could uproot it if i wanted to. the world might as well not have existed before i was born, because i wasn't here to behold it, so what use was it? when i put it that way i suppose it sounds like some sort of egoism but it's not that i think i'm important and all-encompassing so much as aware.
i could be dangerous, i think i could kill someone and then alter everything in my mind emotionally so that even if it happened, it still to me didn't happen... could go on allday haha
sorry this is so long. i want to know more people who feel the same way.
i can convince myself of anything just through exercising my beliefs and reasoning with myself until it makes sense to me.
for example if i want to 'psyche' myself out of feeling guilty about something that happened, i just tell myself that because it's in the past, it doesn't exist anymore and if it isn't now, it can follow that it might as well never have existed, so i don't feel bad at all. it's becoming automatic; i have hardly any conscience, and i feel as though i could do something mean to anyone and it really wouldn't affect me and i could either just put it away and not care that i did it, or convince myself it never happened.
in a way i feel like it makes me stronger to think like this? i can just carry on with my life and not deal with emotional struggle. i'm the one in control, it's almost like i've brainwashed myself or maybe i've like cracked the code and found the truth about life that i wasn't supposed to find. i feel like my brain could have subconsciously invented everything before i was aware of it, as a cover up to the fact that nothing actually exists. science, and everything i've ever learned... my family, the planet itself, everything COULD exist just inside my head, and any proof that it exists outside of my head could also just be a figment of my imagination.
i feel as though even if i'm completely wrong, it won't matter. because i'm only aware of my own mind, so i'll never know anything other than what i believe, and this is what gets me through the day. it's almost like my own self contained religion, so i guess i could call myself my own god, without trying to sound too controversial about it.
i don't think i have control over every detail of the world, i just feel like i planted it and i could uproot it if i wanted to. the world might as well not have existed before i was born, because i wasn't here to behold it, so what use was it? when i put it that way i suppose it sounds like some sort of egoism but it's not that i think i'm important and all-encompassing so much as aware.
i could be dangerous, i think i could kill someone and then alter everything in my mind emotionally so that even if it happened, it still to me didn't happen... could go on allday haha
sorry this is so long. i want to know more people who feel the same way.
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Do you think it's normal?
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I do consider solipsistic ideas now and then, but no, I do not feel the same way. Of course everything is in our mind. There isn't really any solid truth that we can experience - just interpretations. I feel too utterly insignificant to believe in solipsism, as I feel that there must be more that the mind. Humans are just nothings really. I don't know...if I went all solipstic, I would in all likeliness end up in a padded cell. No joke. How do you manage??
So, you CAN say that everything you experience comes from your mind, but it's not very practical to go down that road. If someone punches you for example, it's not so easy to wish away.
Nevermind. You're normal alright. Lot of people think about these things and some take it up as a belief system of sorts as you do. Just don't kill anyone please.
But, I don't think you believe this--you've just read it in a philosophy book. And, you're grappling with the idea, and all the problems and contradictions it seems to lead to.
If you assume that reality really does exist, and that you--including your mind--are just part of that reality, then things will make much more sense. You can't "prove" that reality exists; the very concept of proof depends on it's existence. Every proof requires axioms. So, you have to treat the existence of reality--in your own mind--as an axiom.
Moreover, you have eyes to see with, ears to hear with, skin to touch with; you have to assume that what you are seeing, hearing, and touching, is some aspect of reality. The connection may be complicated, there may be confusion at times, but it is real.
and no, i didn't read it in any books, kind of the opposite- i had had this on my mind for a really long time and then i discovered that i wasn't the only one and it was an established state of mind, that there was literature, etc.
but i kind of digress, thank you for your thoughts on it. sometimes this troubles me a lot and sometimes i just kinda go with the flow and don't think about it
Solipsism is interesting because it reveals to us how little we actually know as human beings. There is a dense saturation of religion, philosophy, and science defined on tenets we've come to assume are true, mostly because we can see and touch these things.
A good example of this is the human concept of "reality", which we perceive with our senses and comprehend with our minds. Just because we can see this "reality" and even relate to it with others (whether they be real or not) doesn't make it so, since we are unable to define this "reality" outside of our own perceptions. Since we can't completely define "reality" without referencing our perceptions, then we cannot be sure that things actually are the way we perceive them to be, or that they even exist at all.
If you can't know the way things really are outside of your own mind, then the only thing you can alter with certainty is your perception. Things, however real or unreal they may be, are the way we perceive them to be. Your mind is the birthplace of the universe (your perceptions), rather than the universe being the birthplace of your mind.
It's easy to say, "Well, if I can't confirm this 'reality' I live in to be true and finite, then nothing I do really matters, because as far as I know, my mind is all there is, and the universe exists solely in my mind." However, just as you can't prove "reality" exists, you can't prove that "reality" doesn't exist, and that actions you take have an effect on the greater system of things.
The point is, you know nothing. Even your own mind. The first step to freeing yourself from your illusion of "reality" is admitting this. Don't wear yourself out searching for "the truth" out there. Even if there were a singular and ultimate "truth" out there, you could only perceive it with your mind and therefore couldn't comprehend it holistically.
"Reality" how you perceive it to be. If you wish to live by a truth, search within.
PS - Language is a tool invented by humans designed to communicate abstract concepts that are inherently inexplicable and non-affirmative. So wtf am i saying, lol?