Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - If I'm not online, does this thread exist?

impkicker · 10-23-2005, 01:58 PM

Does this thread exist physically? yes, on a computer somewhere the memory of what goes on here is inscribed in 0's and 1's which are "dips" and not dips" on a disc somewhere. Will that physical thing cease to exist if there were no humans to witness it?

Did hieroglyphics incribed on tombs in pyramids cease to exist when no living being could read them? The physical particles don't know the difference in being known or not known so they continue to act as they would whether we understand them or not.
So yes, the physical impression of this thread still exists when no one is looking at it.

Does this information (0's and 1's fed to a computer that results in light emissions from the monitor being interpretted by your brain as thoughts and words) in the thread still exist when no one can read them?

Once again, for years we had no idea how to read hieroglyphics. Some, we didn't yet know existed for they were in hidden tombs. But once the rosetta stone was found and we could interpret it through the greek the world still knew, the knowledge that the hieroglyphics stood for was known once again. It existed, and physically it had not changed at all or been lost or altered in the time it was not known.

But what about inscriptions that have been rubbed clean by the seasons? We can't read them, understand them, nor will we ever be able to. The information there, the knowledge it used to represent does not exist except in the past. It no longer exists.

So to get to my point, This thread exists until all physical traces of it (including the brain cells of all the people witnessing it) have been completely erased. It would still exist in the past, but it would no longer exist.

I think for this logic to work though, you'd have to be considering reality to be whatever would be percieved by a completely unbiased viewpoint. Completely objective, which humans aren't capable of. We're always seeing as the subject, we are always here in the middle of things, always present. While we're alive anyway.

But I think there has to be some kind of seeing-every-second-of-everything all-pervasive recording device out there somewhere. Not that it could ever go back to look at whatever it's recording, but just "knowing" or "recording" what must have undisputedly happened.

Because you /know/ that whatever happened-- happened. We don't know what really happened, there's a lot of possibilities, but that doesn't change the fact that whatever truly happened will always remain "what happened".

if that makes any sense.

10-23-2005, 01:58 PM	#29 (permalink)
impkicker Upright Location: Northwest U.S.	Does this thread exist physically? yes, on a computer somewhere the memory of what goes on here is inscribed in 0's and 1's which are "dips" and not dips" on a disc somewhere. Will that physical thing cease to exist if there were no humans to witness it? Did hieroglyphics incribed on tombs in pyramids cease to exist when no living being could read them? The physical particles don't know the difference in being known or not known so they continue to act as they would whether we understand them or not. So yes, the physical impression of this thread still exists when no one is looking at it. Does this information (0's and 1's fed to a computer that results in light emissions from the monitor being interpretted by your brain as thoughts and words) in the thread still exist when no one can read them? Once again, for years we had no idea how to read hieroglyphics. Some, we didn't yet know existed for they were in hidden tombs. But once the rosetta stone was found and we could interpret it through the greek the world still knew, the knowledge that the hieroglyphics stood for was known once again. It existed, and physically it had not changed at all or been lost or altered in the time it was not known. But what about inscriptions that have been rubbed clean by the seasons? We can't read them, understand them, nor will we ever be able to. The information there, the knowledge it used to represent does not exist except in the past. It no longer exists. So to get to my point, This thread exists until all physical traces of it (including the brain cells of all the people witnessing it) have been completely erased. It would still exist in the past, but it would no longer exist. I think for this logic to work though, you'd have to be considering reality to be whatever would be percieved by a completely unbiased viewpoint. Completely objective, which humans aren't capable of. We're always seeing as the subject, we are always here in the middle of things, always present. While we're alive anyway. But I think there has to be some kind of seeing-every-second-of-everything all-pervasive recording device out there somewhere. Not that it could ever go back to look at whatever it's recording, but just "knowing" or "recording" what must have undisputedly happened. Because you /know/ that whatever happened-- happened. We don't know what really happened, there's a lot of possibilities, but that doesn't change the fact that whatever truly happened will always remain "what happened". if that makes any sense.