The reality is not as obvious and simple as we like to think. Some of the things we take for granted are not true. Scientists and philosophers have made every effort to overthrow the theories of common sense, and you will learn about this from the 10 examples below.
1. Heat death
The Great Glaciation is a scientific theory about the end of the world. Of course, this does not mean that everyone will drown in giant ice cream mountains, but still this theory promises a great disaster. The universe has a limited supply of energy. According to this theory, when this energy dries up, the universe will begin to slow down. In other words, there is a gradual loss of heat because heat is created by the movement of energy particles. The movement of particles slows down and, presumably, one day everything will stop. The lines of T. S. Eliot: "So the world will end, Not with an explosion, but with a start …".
2. Solipsism
Solipsism is a philosophical theory that asserts that there is nothing but your own individual consciousness. At first it seems silly - and who would even dream of denying the existence of the world around? The problem is that it is impossible to verify the existence of anything other than your own consciousness.
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Don't believe me? Think for a moment and remember all the possible dreams that have only been in your life. Couldn't it be that everything around you is nothing more than an incredibly intricate dream? But we have friends and family whose existence we cannot question because we can touch them, right? But no. People who take LSD, for example, say they can touch the most compelling hallucinations, but we are not going to claim that their visions are reality.
As a result, the existence of what can we not question? Nothing. No chicken leg we ate for dinner, no keyboard under our fingers. Each of us can only be sure of our own thoughts.
3. Idealism
Idealism is the belief that all things exist only as an idea, or rather, as someone's idea. George Berkeley, the famous idealist philosopher, found that some of his comrades considered his views to be foolish. It is said that one of his opponents kicked the stone with his eyes closed and exclaimed, "This is how I proved it."
It was about the fact that if the stone really exists only in the imagination, he could not kick it with his eyes closed. Berkeley's rebuttal is a bit hard to read, especially these days. He argued that there is an almighty and omnipresent God who perceives everyone and everything at the same time. Plausible or not? You decide.
4. Plato and Logos
Everyone has heard of Plato. He is the most famous philosopher and, like all philosophers, he definitely knew what to say about reality. Plato argued that in addition to the world with which we are all familiar, there is another world of "perfect" forms. All the things that we see around us here are just shadows, imitation of real things. But as we study philosophy, we can hope to catch a glimpse of the originals.
In addition to this stunning statement, Plato, being a monist, said that everything consists of one substance. This means (in his opinion) that diamonds, gold and dog excrement are all composed of the same basic substance, only in different forms. And, according to modern science, this theory may not be far from the truth.
5. Presentism
Time is something that we take for granted: if we take it as a moment, we usually divide it into past, present, and future. Philosophers of presentism declare that there is no past and no future, only the present exists.
In other words, your last birthday does not exist, and every word in this article will cease to exist after you read it until you look at it again. The future does not exist, since there can be no time either before or after, as St. Augustine argued. Or, in the words of the great Buddhist scientist Fyodor Shcherbatsky: “The whole past is unreal, the whole future is unreal, everything imaginary, absent, mental is unreal. Ultimately real
only the present moment of physical existence."
6. Eternalism
Entericism is the complete opposite of presentism. This philosophical theory claims that time is multi-layered, it can be compared to a biscuit cake (however, unlike time, a biscuit does not cause philosophical controversy). All dimensions of time exist simultaneously, but the dimension that a particular observer sees depends on where he is.
So dinosaurs, WWII and Lady Gaga all exist at the same time, but can only be seen from a certain point. According to this vision, the future is hopelessly determined and free will is an illusion.
7. Brain in a flask
The Thought Experiment "Brain in a Flask" is a question discussed by philosophers and scientists who, like most people, assume that a person's understanding of reality depends on his subjective feelings.
So what's the problem? Okay, let's pretend for a second that we are just a brain in a flask controlled by aliens or mad scientists. How do we know? And can we right now deny the possibility of such a situation?
A brain in a flask is a modern presentation of Descartes's problem of the evil Demon. This experiment says all about the same - we cannot confirm the real existence of anything other than our consciousness - but using slightly different thought experiments. And if all this sounds like in the movie "The Matrix", it is only because "The Matrix" was based on this. Unfortunately, we don't really have any red pills.
8. Theory of the multiverse
Anyone who hasn't lived the last ten years on a desert island has heard of the theory of the multiverse, or parallel universe, at least once. Parallel worlds, as many of us already know, are considered to be very similar to ours, with small (or in some cases large) differences. According to the theory, such universes are endless.
What's the point of this? In one parallel reality, you have already been killed by dinosaurs and you are lying underground at a depth of eight feet (because that's what happened there). In the other, you are a powerful dictator. In another, you were never even born. Here's a picture.
9. Fictional realism
The most fascinating offshoot of the theory of parallel universes. Superman is real. Yes, some of you might come up with more exciting ideas, but let's stick with Superman. Logically, if there are an infinite number of universes, there must be several in which our favorite fantasy heroes actually exist.
10. Phenomenalism
Everyone is interested in what happens to the things behind them. Scientists have carefully studied this problem and some of them have come to a simple conclusion - they are disappearing. Well, not quite. Some philosophers, known as phenomenalists, believe that things exist only as phenomena of consciousness. In other words, your cheese sandwich has been around for as long as you believe it exists. And the trees that fall in the forest when no one hears, in principle, do not exist. There is no sensation, no existence. This is the root of phenomenalism.
Olga_Vesna
