Your preferred reality

[greg]

What is the reality you would prefer? Meaning, what kind of life style, and what kind of world?
You are allowed to make up anything, and stretch logic if you must. You can be a talking, teleporting bird who lives on Mars if you want. Or just yourself, but as an NBA star.

And hopefully I don't get a bunch of "i'm rich, live in a mansion, don't have to work, and have 80 cars and 80 wives" replies... boring...

[Air]

Heaven, undefined by human capacity. (Of course, 80 wives would be nice too, as long as they're decently...)

But I still go with heaven.  I believe that in heaven I will find a fulfillment that endures and never tires.

And don't leap on me.   You don't want another religious debate, do you?

I was answering the question! 

[Josquin des Prez]

Being a child again while knowing what i know today. Imagine being able to experience the music of Bach or Beethoven with the full understanding of an adult mind but the ability to feel and remember that only a child has.

[greg]

Being a child again while knowing what i know today. Imagine being able to experience the music of Bach or Beethoven with the full understanding of an adult mind but the ability to feel and remember that only a child has.

Very interesting reply. I like this one, since it's so original and I'd never expect something like this. 

Heaven, undefined by human capacity. (Of course, 80 wives would be nice too, as long as they're decently...)

But I still go with heaven.  I believe that in heaven I will find a fulfillment that endures and never tires.

And don't leap on me.   You don't want another religious debate, do you?

I was answering the question! 

Nah, that's cool!

[Holden]

Being a child again while knowing what i know today. Imagine being able to experience the music of Bach or Beethoven with the full understanding of an adult mind but the ability to feel and remember that only a child has.

This really resonates with me - going back with what I know now and really enjoying those 'moments' however vicariously. I've thought about this a lot over the last few decades.

[drogulus]

What is the reality you would prefer?

     There's reality and what I prefer. I don't confuse them.

     I guess what you really mean is what would I prefer reality to be.

     All grue things should be bleener. That's about it.

[Renfield]

grue

Ah, yes. Nelson Gru Goodman. Harvard Philosophy (cf. 'Oxford Philosophy'), if ever there was any; or, trying to (not?) address the problem of induction by way of making it artificially more difficult. I see what you did there, Nelson!


Greg, though I'm quite fine with the literally infinite possibilities of 'this' reality, I would be very interested in a reality akin to some of the more extreme visions of a few idealist philosophers: a world shaped by the mind.

Needless to say, such a world would stem from each individual, and all individuals, concurrently.

It would be great fun to see how that would work; maybe it would have made its inhabitants more aware of just how different mental landscapes really are, between any two individuals. Perhaps my only disappointment of the present world is that this is just not clear enough, creating unnecessary interpersonal friction, confusion, and unwarranted expectations.

I need to remember to bring this up with God, next time I invoke his name in vain.


Hey, you asked!

[greg]

I would be very interested in a reality akin to some of the more extreme visions of a few idealist philosophers

hmm... any specific examples? 

[Josquin des Prez]

All grue things should be bleener.

You are just as likely to be eaten by grues.

[Renfield]

hmm... any specific examples? 

I didn't have anyone in particular in mind, although the definition of idealism is more or less the advocacy of something like what I described, albeit not necessarily taken to such an extreme.

Crudely put, the general idea (no pun intended) is that the world consists of our understanding of it, therefore its objects are our thoughts. I'm fairly certain Kant advocated something like this, as certainly did - in a manner closer to the above - George Berkeley.

And Plato, but not like that. Really, I'm mincing my words, mostly because I don't feel quite as qualified as to go around saying what X and Y thought, especially when it comes to these rather complicated ontologies!

[greg]

Is that line of thought what influenced Schoepenhauer's conception of the "Representation?"

[drogulus]

hmm... any specific examples? 

     Since I don't think the world conforms to any idea, not even a really good one, I opt for second best and hope to acquire ideas that conform to the world as well as possible. Then these pretty good ideas can be called "true" and those other ideas about an idea-created world can be called "bullshit".

     For me thinking that there is a real world is not different from thinking that the real world is a necessary working hypothesis, though I think some philosophers would say the latter is a form of antirealism. I think it could be that but it isn't for me, since the difference when it appears changes the model, so the world that escapes our ideas only appears by negating itself. It isn't invisible any more, so why build a philosophy around it?

     I don't require proof for a successful working hypothesis. That the truth of a statement about the world is defined by its verification is not a negation of its truth in a fictive higher sense.* The verification is how we know, that's all. That doesn't prove that a world exists. It can't be proved and doesn't need to be. As long as the map takes you where you want to go, that's all the meaning that we could ever reasonably posit for "there is a real world this is a map of".

     So, there is a real world, and what that means is maps featuring the stability of properties a real world has in our theories succeed. Success in turn is defined as our complete lack of interest in an alternative when anything beyond speculation is at stake. Anyway, if our ideas can never be falsified without changing them so they aren't falsified any more then why worry about how they don't capture the real? Only continuing investigation and verification can remedy that. For all it matters to us there will never be a reality that can't ever be captured except as a self-thwarting hypothesis. IOW a philosophers toy.

     _{* (fictive speculative smiley)}

[Renfield]

Is that line of thought what influenced Schoepenhauer's conception of the "Representation?"

Yes.

[greg]

Yes.

Excellent! 

[Scarpia]

Is that line of thought what influenced Schoepenhauer's conception of the "Representation?"

I person who hasn't figured how to entertain a girl has no business occupying his time with Schoepenhauer.   

[DavidW]

What is the reality you would prefer? Meaning, what kind of life style, and what kind of world?
You are allowed to make up anything, and stretch logic if you must. You can be a talking, teleporting bird who lives on Mars if you want. Or just yourself, but as an NBA star.

And hopefully I don't get a bunch of "i'm rich, live in a mansion, don't have to work, and have 80 cars and 80 wives" replies... boring...

I would live in the mountains with deep blue sky overhead, golden sunlight all the time because noon with the boringly white noonday sun and lethargy is skipped altogether.  It's a refreshing 60s with a nice cool breeze that occasionally blows.  I can work on research or teach as I choose.  There are hiking trails outside my house, and I can have lunch with friends even if they reside hundreds of miles away.  There are two local orchestras, one of which programs Haydn during the week, another plays a Bach cantata every Sunday.  The chorus is amazing, heartfelt everytime!  I play Chopin on my piano, because in that reality I've taken lessons and I can play.  When I go to work I find the lab equipment to be state of the art, with perfect integration with the computers.  The students are always inquisitive and insightful, and if I want to swing by a bar after work I find a quiet environment with jazz played in the background and no trace of anything remotely seedy, a real gentlemens' club.  And when I want dinner I whip up a marvelous meal in minutes, because in my world great meals can be cooked at the snap of a finger!

[greg]

I person who hasn't figured how to entertain a girl has no business occupying his time with Schoepenhauer.   

First of all, I can't believe I added an extra 'e' in there! 
Second of all, Schopenhauer probably couldn't figure it out, either.
Third of all, I haven't really occupied much time with his stuff other than very basic concepts.
Fourth of all... okay, maybe there isn't a fourth one.

[greg]

I would live in the mountains with deep blue sky overhead, golden sunlight all the time because noon with the boringly white noonday sun and lethargy is skipped altogether.  It's a refreshing 60s with a nice cool breeze that occasionally blows.  I can work on research or teach as I choose.  There are hiking trails outside my house, and I can have lunch with friends even if they reside hundreds of miles away.  There are two local orchestras, one of which programs Haydn during the week, another plays a Bach cantata every Sunday.  The chorus is amazing, heartfelt everytime!  I play Chopin on my piano, because in that reality I've taken lessons and I can play.  When I go to work I find the lab equipment to be state of the art, with perfect integration with the computers.  The students are always inquisitive and insightful, and if I want to swing by a bar after work I find a quiet environment with jazz played in the background and no trace of anything remotely seedy, a real gentlemens' club.  And when I want dinner I whip up a marvelous meal in minutes, because in my world great meals can be cooked at the snap of a finger!

Great post! I think a movie just played in my mind while reading that, and it sounded great!

[DavidW]

Great post! I think a movie just played in my mind while reading that, and it sounded great!

Usually in movies though when you have a setup like that, it's all downhill.  They get cancer and die, sacrifice everything and die, pretty glum stuff!

Well I carry an image of ideals in my head (I could go on for a long time), and even though I live in reality, I try to work to that ideal whenever I can.  Hey you never know, wanting beautiful weather and lots of sunlight was on my mind alot when I lived up north, and I found a way back to warmer, brighter climates.  But then some of those things are dreams of things past, there was a time in my past where there were free concerts every week to hear Bach, Vivaldi and others play.  I will most likely never have that experience again, but I can remember fondly.

[greg]

Wow, where were the free concerts?