P
Partinobodycula
Guest
Thank you, it’s nice to finally know what you’re really thinking. And who knows, you might actually be right on some points, who am I to say. After all, you’re the one with the degree, so I’ll bow to your expertise.
To begin with let me reiterate, as a soft solipsist I don’t necessarily believe that the world exists only in my mind, I simply accept it as a possibility, and one which by its very nature can neither be proven nor disproven. I can however examine the likelihood and possible causes of a consciousness created reality.
The first observation, which seems fairly self-evident, is that even if consciousness could create its own reality, it couldn’t create itself. Thus consciousness must arise from something, the nature of which may be conjectured, but can never be known with certainty. Thus even if there is a God, His existence outside of the conscious mind can never be known. Ever!
But let’s assume for the sake of argument, and in keeping with the theme of this thread, that Aquinas’ Five Ways are correct, and there is a God. Which would then seem more likely, that God created a material world, or that He created an immaterial world? If we stick with our assumption that Aquinas’ Five Ways are correct then the Fourth Way tells us that by the argument of gradation we can know the relationship between the creator and the created. They must be the same, varying only by degree. What this means is that if realty is material, then God is also material. But if God is immaterial, then reality is also immaterial. It would therefore seem logical that if Aquinas’ Fourth Way is correct, then either God is material, or we’re not.
Thus, given the choice between either a material God or an immaterial reality, it would seem more likely that we’re living in an immaterial reality. The fact that it appears to be material is simply an illusion. But this leads to a second question, who created it? Did God create it, and it created me? Or did God create me, and I created it? If reality is really just an illusion, then who created it? Well let’s look at the evidence. Does the world around you, with all of its violence, suffering, indifference and death look like something that a loving, benevolent God would create, or does it look like something that you or I would create. I would argue that it looks like something that I would create. But why?
This leads us to a third question, the one which religion proposes to answer. Why is the world the way it is? The theist would argue that God created the world, but in His benevolence granted us free will, and its we and our free will that brings suffering into the world. But I would argue that if God truly wanted to grant us free will, then He wouldn’t just grant us the freedom to choose, He would grant us the freedom to create, and the evidence suggests that that’s exactly what He did. The world looks much more like something I would create, then something that a benevolent God would create.
Still, why is there such suffering? If I have the power to create, why don’t I simply create my own personal concept of heaven? The answer may simply be, that I can’t. Because the world is just a reflection of my doubts, and fears, and hopes, and desires. I could argue that the world is the way it is because the conscious mind attempts to avoid cognitive dissonance. Attempts to cope with the questions of where did I come from, where am I going, and why am I here. Attempts to give itself context. But why can’t it create context without creating such suffering? Perhaps because it simply can’t imagine light without darkness, warmth without cold, and good without evil. And so it exists in a world that’s inevitably torn between the two, and it imagines a God for whom such heavenly things are possible.
But as I say, I’m a soft solipsist, so I can’t say if any of this is true. I’m simply imagining how it could be true. If you would like me to imagine that the world exists simply in a computerized matrix, I can do that also. But the entire point of soft solipsism is that although I can imagine many things, I can never be certain of anything. Strangely, what this means is, I have the power to choose. I have free will. The ultimate truth is that each of us believes what we choose to believe, but NONE of us can ever know if we’re right.
I would appreciate any and all arguments against the solipsistic mind as presented above. Yes it’s farfetched. Yes its probably delusional. But is it wrong, and can you prove it’s wrong?
Here’s hoping that your life is as fulfilling as your heart desires it to be.