What is "real"?

S

Saiko

Member
#1
#1
All of us here use the term but though most of us know it means different things to different people we seem to just ignore that.

So, what does the term mean to you?
 
S

Saiko

Member
#6
#6
Max_B said:
It doesn't mean anything to me out of context...
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??? Out of what context?
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos said:
A thing is real if it has some effect on something else that is real. Bootstrap this with anything you feel like.

~~ Paul
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lol at the hoops people are jumping through in order to avoid expressing what a term means to them. Uncanny really. Especially among those who fancy themselves as skeptics/seekers/etc.
 
Typoz

Typoz

Member
#8
#8
Max_B said:
Out of the context of a sentence, or a paragraph, or a chapter, or a book etc...
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For example in optics there are real and virtual images.
In mathematics there are real and imaginary numbers (and many other types of numbers too).
In other subject areas - well yes, it would depend on the context.
 
S

Saiko

Member
#9
#9
Max_B said:
Out of the context of a sentence, or a paragraph, or a chapter, or a book etc...
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So to you in one context "real" means "tastes slightly sweet." and in another it means "a pale yellow colour"?

Yes that's snarky sarc but come on man, no one is making you respond to the OP so if you choose to do so then at least give some valid answer.
 
Max_B

Max_B

Member
#10
#10
Saiko said:
So to you in one context "real" means "tastes slightly sweet." and in another it means "a pale yellow colour"?

Yes that's snarky sarc but come on man, no one is making you respond to the OP so if you choose to do so then at least give some valid answer.
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I have given a valid answer... can't help it if you don't like it.
 
Kai

Kai

New
#13
#13
Something is real if it independently exists, or if it is directly dependent on another thing that independently exists. So for example, a child's birthday party is real by criterion 2.
 
Max_B

Max_B

Member
#14
#14
You can't clarify 'real', it needs to be in context for it to be understood properly, because it's meaning changes depending on the other words that surround it.

Exactly the same thing happens with colour, you can't understand a single colour without any context. Same with sounds.

My assumption is that the brain works on patterns (spatial, and temporal), without enough pattern the brain hasn't got enough to go on to work out the meaning of any particular pattern with any accuracy.
 
Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

Paul C. Anagnostopoulos

Nap, interrupted.
Member
#15
#15
Kai said:
Something is real if it independently exists, or if it is directly dependent on another thing that independently exists. So for example, a child's birthday party is real by criterion 2.
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If it exists independently and has no effect on anything else, then how do we know it exists?

If the existence of a thing is indistinguishable from its nonexistence, we say that thing does not exist. ---Yahzi
 
Nassim

Nassim

New
#17
#17
Saiko said:
All of us here use the term but though most of us know it means different things to different people we seem to just ignore that.

So, what does the term mean to you?
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Wow : That's a highly controversial issue that has been debated by philosophers , ancient wisdom ...since time memorial lol .

QM has by the way been challenging classical realism ,the latter in the sense that there is a so-called independent objective reality out there that's allegedly independent from the observer .
 
malf

malf

Member
#18
#18
Saiko said:
??? Out of what context?

lol at the hoops people are jumping through in order to avoid expressing what a term means to them. Uncanny really. Especially among those who fancy themselves as skeptics/seekers/etc.
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Perhaps it would help if you gave us the definition that you're clearly wanting/waiting for?
 
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