The Illusion of Experience

From dreams to the multiverse

Here’s a strange question — what is reality? Now it seems simple enough to say that “reality is what we experience” — “what we experience is real”. But is that true? I mean, who are “we” exactly — everyone? Are we not then implying that everyone experiences reality? What if two people experience different things? Is only one of them experiencing that which is real? If so — which one is really experiencing reality and which is experiencing an illusion? I mean wouldn’t both think they are both experiencing reality?

Most of us think we are experiencing reality itself. We trust out senses. But sometimes our senses fail us. Perhaps into seeing a mirage for example or into thinking a stick is crooked just because it seems bent when half of the stick is submerged underwater. So what do we do then? We use our other senses to verify the straightness of the stick by touching the stick with our hands. But what if all of our senses are simultaneously impaired — what then? How could we verify the accuracy of our sensory experience if we cannot escape our senses to verify them? Come to think of it…couldn’t all of our experiences be called into question now? How could we know?

This line of thinking wherein which all of our experiences and knowledge is called into question is called Philosophical skepticism or…