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museacmaker · 06-26-2003, 08:36 PM

I noticed alot of the posts here were centered around questions surrounding religion. I'd like to shake it up a bit and post something thats kinda been on my mind lately.

Are you a brain in a jar? Its a simple question. The harder part is this, can you prove your response?

This is the basic philosophical question behind movies like the matrix and the 13th floor, ect. Which is why its been on my mind lately. Think about it? What is you were born and your body was totally useless, but your brain was fine. Who's to say that there isn't technology in the "real world" that lets doctors put your brain in a vatt of protienes and such and plug it into a computer. And what if this computer fed your brain all the impulses to simulate your sences(sight, hearing, tactile sensations, smell, taste). You could have spent all these years interacting with people and places that aren't real. Your first kiss, could have been just a computer controled impulse. You could be sitting in a lab right now, with electrodes in you sitting in a jar, living your life happily and totally oblivious to the truth.

I know this is kinda a cheesey question, but think about it. Do we have any proof that this isnt' the case? What the real question this raises is, can you trust your senses. Can you use them as proof. Is seeing really beleiving? Neurologists have stimilated various parts of patient's brains with electrodes while they were consious and they reported seeing lights, colours, ect. What do you think? Are you a brain is a jar?

06-26-2003, 08:36 PM	#1 (permalink)
museacmaker Upright	Are you a brain in a jar? I noticed alot of the posts here were centered around questions surrounding religion. I'd like to shake it up a bit and post something thats kinda been on my mind lately. Are you a brain in a jar? Its a simple question. The harder part is this, can you prove your response? This is the basic philosophical question behind movies like the matrix and the 13th floor, ect. Which is why its been on my mind lately. Think about it? What is you were born and your body was totally useless, but your brain was fine. Who's to say that there isn't technology in the "real world" that lets doctors put your brain in a vatt of protienes and such and plug it into a computer. And what if this computer fed your brain all the impulses to simulate your sences(sight, hearing, tactile sensations, smell, taste). You could have spent all these years interacting with people and places that aren't real. Your first kiss, could have been just a computer controled impulse. You could be sitting in a lab right now, with electrodes in you sitting in a jar, living your life happily and totally oblivious to the truth. I know this is kinda a cheesey question, but think about it. Do we have any proof that this isnt' the case? What the real question this raises is, can you trust your senses. Can you use them as proof. Is seeing really beleiving? Neurologists have stimilated various parts of patient's brains with electrodes while they were consious and they reported seeing lights, colours, ect. What do you think? Are you a brain is a jar?