How do I know that the universe exists and is not just my imagination?

Question:How do I know I am not just someone elses imagination?

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: How do I know I am not just someone elses imagination?

You don't... That's what makes life so special and interesting (and that's why people believe in God, to give them reasoning to something we know nothing about). Live for today, you may not be here tomorrow.

Because of shows like star trek, BSG, Stargate Atlantis, etc...

that's a really good question. but i guess we'll never really know.

at least not during our lifetimes.

I have gas

If you believe, will it change reality?
If you don't believe will it change reality?

just one of those questions!

you are someone else's imagination.. just stop thinking about it..

take a hammer and hit your hand with it, if it hurts the universe is real

i have come to the conclusion that the universe is all a dream of mine so welcome to MY world!

Close your eyes and think God is imagining it all including you
http://www.google.com/custom?hl=en&clien...

we don't ... in fact according to Hinduism, we are all just part of a dream that the God Vishnu is having. Every time he wakes up the world ends and when he dreams again, the world is recreated.

Punch yourself in the face, if this is just you're imagination then enough psychological damage and aingst will wake you up or bring your mind back to a relative state... if not then you will just be in a whole lot of f'n pain for no reason....

King, You just asked the same question Descarte answered.
What the heck do you think Descarte's argument and conclusion of "Cogito, Ergo Sum" was all about?

A lot of people talk and think about our existence in terms of the existence of life and the existence of us humans or even the earth; but not many would question THE existence of things.

Personally I'm very struck by the question of essence and existence, let alone the answer to your question.

check out this site:

http://www.hubblesite.org

Click the link to "gallery" and enjoy.

If the universe be imagination, so will you be too, since you are in it. But ,for imagination to take place, the one who imagines is needed, and in that case,the one who imagines, the consciousness, will be the reality, and all objectivity will be imagination.

pinch yourself

You perceive the universe via your consciousness. For your consciousness to be aware of the universe means that the universe is here first therefore you can not imagine it into existence.

What could you do about it?

S.F.A.,squat, zip.

So, what does it matter?

Pinch yourself.

hope u can see those stars moon sun....... Where do they exist? is it ur Imagination?

Cognito ergo sum, you wouldn't get anyswers to your questions if we were all figments of your imagination.

You know you are not someone else's imagination because you cannot rationally doubt that consciousness exists, and your consciousness exists at least in the sense that you are at least that thought. You know that the Universe exists because it is not transparent to your awareness, so it is either part of your subconscious, which is separate from your self, or it is a realm which is not part of your mind at all.

well given the fact that you are living and seeing the dark sky in the evening simply proves the existence of the so-called "universe". science has all the explanations regarding it and it is made not to joke everyone else but to explain the phenomenas of everything. just a simple note of how could the moon can possibly be floating in the sky nearby the earth if the universe is not true? the earth and the moon can already prove the existence of the universe.

UNIVERSE means a sphere of person or thing: a sphere of activity that is centered on and includes everything associated with a person, place, or thing....
(Microsoft? Encarta? 2008. ? 1993-2007 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)

and, we are in someone else's imagination. according to religions as neutral to all, we are in our God's imagination.

The Universe is most commonly defined as everything that physically exists: the entirety of space and time, all forms of matter, energy and momentum, and the physical laws and constants that govern them. However, the term "universe" may be used in slightly different contextual senses, denoting such concepts as the cosmos, the world or Nature.
Reality, in everyday usage, means "the state of things as they actually exist." The term reality, in its widest sense, includes everything that is, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible. Reality in this sense may include both being and nothingness, whereas existence is often restricted to being (compare with nature).
In the strict sense of philosophy, there are levels or gradation to the nature and conception of reality. These levels include, from the most subjective to the most rigorous: phenomenological reality, truth, fact, and axiom.
Philosophy addresses two different aspects of the topic of reality: the nature of reality itself, and the relationship between the mind (as well as language and culture) and reality.
It has led some people to assume that there is no reality existing, independent of our own consciousness as observer. However, there is no clear evidence that human consciousness has any special role to play beyond the influence of instrument-settings on result. These phenomena can also be given the more cautious interpretation that quantum systems do contain properties, but not properties directly corresponding to measurements preformed on the system by macroscopic instruments

The idea that the only reality you experience is that in your own head is called solipsism and its not new.

Solipsism presents itself as a coherent philosophical hypothesis, but it is one in which no-one really believes (except for certain psychotics).

If you are really interested, read:

http://www.iep.utm.edu/s/solipsis.htm

Some people believe the whole universe is God's dream.
Human is just God's imagination. When God wake up, the universe will cease to exist ^-^

You can't know this and anyone who tells you that they do, simply has not thought it all of the way through.

To me, The key is not if you are the one doing the imagining or someone else is imagining you. That idea is simply a case of not seeing the whole picture.

The key is in realizing that we are all imagining it collectively as a unified whole. That all seemingly individuated consciousness exists as a part of a unified background consciousness that religion has misnamed God.

See--- http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;...

Love and blessings Don

baby i dont think these people know what they are talking about. some people say this, some say that, bubt when it all boils down, NO ONE KNOWS! just belive in GOD, and follow the word that he created,the BIBLE. you can ask you questions that comes onto your sweet little mind all day, but no one can has the true questions that lies on this earth!!!!!!!!!!!!

For you to have an imagination you must exist.
For you to exist there must be a universe.