User:Weezerdog3/sandbox

• Comment: Wikipedia cannot be used as a reference. Theroadislong (talk) 08:30, 29 September 2024 (UTC)

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Collective Solipsism

Relying heavily on the concept of Solipsism, this tentative theory states that what we consider to be the "objective universe" that supposedly exists in the absence of observation is rather subjectively constructed through the consensus of individual Solipsistic perceptions. Using this theory, anything that is assumed to be "objectively true" is merely one or more conscious bodies agreeing that such a perception is mutually experienced. Parties claiming to have more expertise or authority (especially in academia) often influence heavily what is considered to be "objectively true" or "objectively false". However, as paradigms shift and theories are disproven (and superceded), the claim that anyone makes to "objective truth" is often revealed to be lacking consideration of newly known information, and the Solipsistic nature of many people's claims to "objective truth" becomes clear when such gaps in knowledge arise.

Drawing from a Buddhist background of non-essence, this epistemological theory asserts that most of what we claim to be true is simply a claim to authority, and that the truth of reality cannot be ascertained with any amount of certainty.

This theory also draws from Panpsychism in a sense that no observable universe can exist outside of conscious perception because everything to some degree has consciousness. In order for an observable universe to exist outside of one's own Solipsistic perception, objects must exist outside of the collective of subjective perceptions. If the criteria for consciousness is expanded beyond objects that can communicate perception in a traditional sense (by using human words or mimicking human emotions, both of which are not displayed by all organisms known to be conscious), then even organisms with supposedly "lower" forms of consciousness (like bacteria or insects) can be shown to be part of the collective of subjective perceptions. Likewise, if the criteria for consciousness is merely a response to stimulus, then inanimate objects like concrete or human inventions like computer programs can be included in the realm of collective subjectivities, since each can communicate back to a perceiver that they have perceived another being's stimulus. Therefore, as a result of nothing falling outside of the collective of subjectivities, there is no external universe to be observed outside of the collective. As such, a combination of Solipsism and Panpsychism assert that the "objective world" cannot exist outside of the collective of subjectivities.