Ask Lemmy

There's no way to break out of it if it is, so don't get caught up thinking about it too hard. It's better to live life as if it isn't.

When shit gets bad in my life I feel like this sometimes. The movie I Saw the TV Glow really fucked me up. I don't think I can watch it again until I'm in a much better place and much happier about the state of the world. It just hit too close to home on too many of my anxieties. Like, obviously I didn't think the movie was going to make me kill myself or something, but it really scared me how close it felt to that. It is so tempting to believe there is an escape hatch. To get out of the nightmare. But there isn't. Looking for one is only going to bring you grief.

Pursue your joy. Focus on what you're thankful for.

It is impossible to prove that it is the case that everything is fake and it is impossible that it isn't. Lots of things like this we cannot know for sure. However, you parents being real, society being real etc is a less complex explanation than everything being a VR simulation. If you do not have additional information, then the less complex explanation often is the most likely. So, if you assume reality is not a simulation, you are more likely to be right.

I can't believe you figured it out.

The Truman show is one of my all time favorite movies and sound tracks

I think you would enjoy the concept of solipsism. We're all just thinking computers driving around skeletons with flesh armor. Maybe our flesh mechs are part of the simulation too.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instrumentalism

I'm real I thought I told ya

I'm real even on Oprah

Owlman: It doesn't matter.

You can kinda guess the world is real because of the CAP theorem. Hear me out.

1. The CAP theorem says a computing system cannot perfectly have all 3 of: Consistency, Availability, and Partition tolerance (division of some parts of a distributed system from another). We'll assume this is true and somewhat dubiously assume this applies to any simulated universe
2. Availability is a necessity. A simulated universe that suddenly starts lagging or buffering would mean the jig would be up pretty quickly. You'd probably want a distributed system that can spin up new computing instances instantly, but that brings up issues with partitioning....
3. But lack of partition tolerance would make it pretty obvious that the universe is fake, because some parts of it would be inaccessible. So can't sacrifice that.
4. Therefore, the only thing left is consistency. A simulated universe would need some kind of inconsistency. In a web site, this might mean content is available to users in some areas but not others. In a simulated universe, we'd expect people in some areas to have a different experience of objective reality than others. But there's no evidence of this ever happening, unless you wanna go down some Mandela effect rabbit hole.
5. That leaves us with the conclusion that the universe is not a computing system at all, but rather a thing in itself. It doesn't need to stay consistent because it is consistent fundamentally.
6. Also, let's just ignore relativistic speed limits and quantum mechanics entirely.

You can't technically truly prove any of these not to be true, but given that if you reject all the evidence available to you for what the world is with the notion that it could be fake, you end up with nothing left to make decisions with, you might as well just take the world at face value until things are proven otherwise.

In the big picture and when you realize the vast universe that surrounds us and how short of time we’ve been on earth, we are just a spec in time and none of us are important. Just live your life and try to be kind to others while you’re here. I find comfort in knowing we are all the same and we are nothing.

Are y'all even real?

First existential crisis? Don't worry, they get easier after a few. The answer is simple once you learn how to embrace it: it doesn't matter. Real, fake, it's completely irrelevant. Go get high, play Halo, get some ice cream, and let somebody who gets paid to think about this stuff deal with it.

Pretty much what everyone else is saying as far as it can't really be proven. Everything you experience is your brains interpretation of the stimuli it received from outside the body.

One of the few ways I rationalize it for myself is: there's no fucking way at all that I am the "main character." I'm the most pathetic, least important thing to have ever disgraced this earth with his existence. I'm not in a simulation that is centered around me, that universe would be absolutely insane.

It may very well all be fake and you're living in a simulation.

That doesn't matter though. It doesn't change anything. That simulation is all you've got so you either play along or you end it for yourself. The only thing that is undeniable is consciousness - the fact of experience. That it feels like something to be. Any story about your existence that you add on top of that is just thinking. It's appereances in consciousness.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter. If you have no way of discerning what's "real" or not, just play the game and try to enjoy it as much as you can without disrupting others' enjoyment.

Last Thursdayism is a fun rabbit hole to dive down.

I struggled with a lot of this myself until I stumbled on Taoism. It teaches that you can only interact with one moment. Now. The future and the past are an illusion that can easily slow you down.

Trying to understand the why will ultimately lead to no answers. A big part of this challenge was the idea of identity. There is no ‘you’. Everything you think of as ‘you’ is ultimately ‘dead’.

We assume all the living things around us have souls and perspective and feeling and life, but this is only perception from us. It’s a trust of our senses. But that’s all they can be. Senses.

When you describe who you are, you might tell someone what you do for work, your hobbies, where you grew up, your favorite pets, flavor of ice cream, and what terrifies you and makes you cry… But none of things are you.

Existence is only the moment through which you can perceive. It is right now. The choices you make in this immediate moment are the only thing you can be. Planning to do something tomorrow or wishing you did something different in the past is not you and never was or will be you.

The person in the past that made all those mistakes or successes is gone and that person that might fail at something risky doesn’t exist either. Only you can make choices and changes and it’s a responsibility to act accordingly.

This is something you can do for yourself at any time, in any place, at any moment. Take a moment in the place you’re in right now to stop for several minutes. Just do nothing. Observe the room you’re in. Listen to the sounds around you. Smell and feel the place you’re in. Let it wash over you with its infinite detail and complexity.

This is always there, available to you. It is a power known as mindfulness. If you are able to accept it, and make active choices to pursue it, you will find the world is filled with magic. Even in the worst places.

If you want a really good video that gives you a bit more of a grounded explanation, see Kurzgesagt’s video on Optimistic Nihilism. Waking Life is another recommendation along with Everything, Everywhere, All At Once.

With regard to the possibility that life is an elaborate trap or test, this (slightly long) extract from The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, might be a helpful perspective especially the bit I've made italic. I hope so, and I hope you feel better soon 👍

Ford and Arthur continued their journey through the wood. A few hundred yards past the clearing they suddenly came upon a small pile of fruit lying in their path-berries that looked remarkably like raspberries and blackberries, and pulpy, green skinned fruit that looked remarkably like pears.

So far they had steered clear of the fruit and berries they had seen, though the trees and bushed were laden with them.

“Look at it this way,” Ford Prefect had said, “fruit and berries on strange planets either make you live or make you die. Therefore the point at which to start toying with them is when you’re going to die if you don’t. That way you stay ahead. The secret of healthy hitch-hiking is to eat junk food.”

They looked at the pile that lay in their path with suspicion. It looked so good it made them almost dizzy with hunger.

“Look at it this way,” said Ford, “er…”

“Yes?” said Arthur.

“I’m trying to think of a way of looking at it which means we get to eat it,” said Ford.

The leaf-dappled sun gleamed on the pulp skins of the things which looked like pears. The things which looked like raspberries and strawberries were fatter and riper than any Arthur had ever seen, even in ice cream commercials.

“Why don’t we eat them and think about it afterwards?” he said.

“Maybe that’s what they want us to do.”

“Alright, look at it this way…”

“Sounds good so far.”

“It’s there for us to eat. Either it’s good or it’s bad, either they want to feed us or to poison us. If it’s poisonous and we don’t eat it they’ll just attack us some other way. If we don’t eat, we lose out either way.”

“I like the way you’re thinking,” said Ford, “Now eat one.”

Hesitantly, Arthur picked up one of those things that looked like pears.

“I always thought that about the Garden of Eden story,” said Ford.

“Eh?”

“Garden of Eden. Tree. Apple. That bit, remember?”

“Yes of course I do.”

“Your God person puts an apple tree in the middle of a garden and says do what you like guys, oh, but don’t eat the apple. Surprise surprise, they eat it and he leaps out from behind a bush shouting ‘Gotcha’. It wouldn’t have made any difference if they hadn’t eaten it.”

“Why not?”

“Because if you’re dealing with somebody who has the sort of mentality which likes leaving hats on the pavement with bricks under them you know perfectly well they won’t give up. They’ll get you in the end.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Never mind, eat the fruit.”

“You know, this place almost looks like the Garden of Eden.”

“Eat the fruit.”

“Sounds quite like it too.”

Arthur took a bite from the thing which looked like a pear.

“It’s a pear,” he said.

"I'm frustrated and I need answers, here are some questions that have haunted philosophers for millenia"

The good news is you'll find no shortage of answers and writing on the matter

I personally hold a Consciousness-Only View, something like nondual Buddhism, and would say that your questions are on the right track but you're understandably trying to reconcile them with the consensus opinion of a materialistic world. Which leads to a nihilistic "this is all a simulation" line of thinking that still runs into the wall of duality - you're still putting an external force out there, acting upon you. As long as you believe that there are goal posts, you can move them indefinitely. It's a simulation within a simulation within a simulation and depending on your inclination, you can put a really depressing spin on it ("I'm being tormented").

But if you aren't actually experiencing life from a nondual angle (as you don't seem to be), the philosophy doesn't mean much. And to experience life with the freedom that comes from not experiencing yourself to be only the things you think you are takes a lot of practice - meditation etc. with a secure and healthy community around you. Unless you get lucky.

Up to you what you want to do with this all though. I only saw the little glimpse of your life that you divulged in the comments and as such I'd say, focus on what is most immediate to you. Get food. Take care of your body. Try to find a real-life community. Occasionally poke at your thoughts about what you VALUE and drill down - do you value the thing you said or do you value what you believe you will get with the thing you said? Make choices in life that help you live more according to your values. Stop spending excessive amounts of time online, especially if all the stories cause you anxiety.

Or you can just join a Buddhist monastery or something. You'll be taken care of and your identity as a second child or an immigrant inherently doesn't matter, but of course you'll be giving up a lot.

DeathByBigSad, turn off Lemmy Now! The mission is a failure!

You can't know. There are so many options for what could be true. All I can know for a fact is that I exist as a thinking being. The rest of my 'knowledge' exists within the framework that the world I experience through the senses is 'real'. And if it is brain chemicals, I fear knowing truth might not help. I'm also feeling a bit depressed right now, and the only thing that's really helped me is crying, and the right brain chemicals 😕

Just enjoy the ride. Test or no test, we are only here for a short time, so better make the most of it.

Are y’all even real?

I feel real, therefore I am.

What if y’all are just part of the program to torture me?

I am way to cautious not to hurt ppl's feelings, and I am not scheming over a kettle of ominous green bubbling liquid, as was promised in cartoons of my youth. So no. I don't think so. And if, major let down! I demand my witch gown. God? Nietzsche? Anyone?!

I could go on arguing against your worries/ answer your questions but I used to ask myself very similar questions before therapy. Seems to be a somewhat common thing, so you are not alone in this. Feel hugged or given an affirming nod, if you like. All I can say is that it doesn't matter. If we were a thousand disembodied brains floating in space, dreaming, it wouldn't change that we percieve this to be our reality, in which we can make positive changes to our lives. So it doesn't matter. I hope you'll feel a little better soon.

These are all valid questions and I think a lot of good ways to think about them have been presented.

I suspect that the reason a lot of people are grappling with this right now has to do with the bizarre social and political environment of the moment. When large portions of the population have chosen to ignore objective reality, and make up their own, you can't help but wonder if it's all just arbitrary. However, there is an answer to that, and the answer is no, it is not. Within our perceptual reality, however it exists, things do behave in consistent ways and can be observed independently of belief. Those who attempt to ignore that do ultimately fail.

Our lack of knowledge about the underlying nature of our reality does not change the way it behaves for all of us.

I had a sort of similar problem once and a therapist asked me if I knew what a cairn was. It's a pile of rocks usually from biggest to smallest, maybe in the woods or whatever. Point is it has no place being there in nature, but yet there it is. The obvious conclusion is that someone made that. With intention. Then he asked me to look at the nature of the universe, DNA, all of it. It has order. It shouldn't exist, but there it is. Something made it with intention. Still not sure I buy that, but his point made sense. Wether you constructed this or not, it's here, and has order and intent. So even if it's all fake and you made it up, you made up one hell of a fantastical and wonderful thing that mostly defies explanation. Countless studies toil away attempting to explain it. But they can't. And neither can you. Doubly so if you are the one who created it. Appreciate the complicated nonsense.

Well, I know I’m real, so by virtue, I believe you to be as well.

Do I think I’m smart enough to have been able to come up with a language system of my own that makes sense to me rather than just a bunch of mood grunts? Nope.

The test? My understanding of the test is to see if we can be good people and if we can build a symbiotic relationship with our planet and other planets. It’s been a rocky few millennia for us people, but in spite of how chaotic life has been, it oddly feels like we are all much closer together than in prior generations.

I feel that what we need to do to make things better starts with ourselves. If I’m happy, then I can share my happiness with others. If I hold love in my heart, I can share love for others as well. If I hold anger, judgment, or dislike then those things can tend to spill out, even when that’s not what I would want. Connecting with my roots has helped me to have my heart, rather than being cold and more self-centered.

If we’re in a good spot, we can help our friends, we can help our neighbors, our local communities; we can create a culture of positive change. When everyone’s backs are against the wall, people need community now more than ever.

Taking that step forward every day will help you; for me, it involved making a promise to myself to never stop moving forward. Hydrate yourself often, focus on getting nourishing meals three times a day, building yourself a routine will help, having a cup of coffee each day is beneficial, limit caffeine intake to one or two cups and only before noon, play brown noise in the background to help drown out any rude or critical thoughts or feelings, and low dose melatonin =<1mg for sleeping soundly and peacefully at night helps as well. I recommend visiting a therapist if you can afford it, but invest in yourself today because you are worth it. I spent a decade learning these lessons, but I’ve been thriving more the past few years now :D

I have no "proof of reality" to offer you (Plato had similar thoughts with his "shadows in a cave" analogy), but in all cases I have heard of pursuing these hypotheticals too far simply feeds neuroses rather than uncovering the Illuminati. The current US paroxysms of conservative conspiracy theories are IMO the product of failing to rein in such unproductive thought... do you really want to go down this road?

Your 26th century bit reminds me of the Continuum tv series. Entertaining story, but not likely to be worth building your reality on.

It is what it is.

The thing is you have no way of getting to a higher position in order to discern the truths that are directly in front of your face.

So the only sane response to the universe that we are presented with is to treat it as if it is what it is.

Of course, feel free to keep your skepticism and, you know, to play the game however you choose to play it. Just know that there is no exit that is not eternal at this time as far as anyone knows.