How do you know the world exists beyond what you can sense?

Question: How do you know the world exists beyond what you can sense!?

Right now, in this room, I can see my bed, sofa, pc etc!. I can hear some birds outside and I can see a field out the window!. Other than that, I have no idea that anything else exists!.

I'm confident that I can get in my car and drive to somewhere I've always driven to!.

But how do I know that actually, nothing exists beyond my horizon until I interact with it and that some force generates stuff and puts the same people and characters and geography as I move in that direction as always, back in place!? How do I know for sure that I'm not in a big tv show or social experiment played out by lots of actors!? Or that every now and then, this force decides to stimulate a response from me by introducing a new character or an old one!?

How do I know!? I can't prove it!. I'm not sure anyone can!. Do I have faith that it will always reappear!? It hasn't crossed my mind until right now!.

But doesn't this vision seem a little absurd!?

Effectively, it exists doesn't it!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Its somewhat of an extrapolation of pure existentialism!. If you don't perceive it, then it doesn't exist!. And most of us have (probably) thought the same thing once or twice!.

As for proof that things outside your perception DO exist, there is none!. Even this message (and all the rest) could only be something which you have created (through desire and perception) to fulfill a need!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

yes, because you can email your friends contacts about what THEY see, and what else exists, and they cant ALL be liars LOL!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yes you are very clever, we are all watching you cant believe you finally worked it out!.!.!.!.!.

Lol, I think life is what ever you make of it!. If you think its some bad thing, or good thing, or game show, lots of fun its what you will get!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Did you forget to take your pills this morning!?

I think everyone has felt that way at somepoint, unfotunately none of us can proove it, just the same as none of us can proove the existance of GOD or Aliens or Ghosts!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I know I exists because God said!.!.!.

Let there be light (the light of reason) and there was indeed light and the darkness (ignorance) comprehended in not!.!.!.

And the reason is Unconditional Love!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I'm answering this question in Australia, where are you!? If nothing existed outside your world, I wouldn't!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Have you taken any philosophy classes!? How do you even know what your senses are telling you is right!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

World exists which is beyond the knowledge of scientist!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

The present moment is all that exists!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

inductive reasoningWww@QuestionHome@Com

The fact is that you dont know and you might not ever knowWww@QuestionHome@Com

Honestly this is a stupid question!. Metaphysics went out the window with the birds outsideWww@QuestionHome@Com

ever watch the matrix!?Www@QuestionHome@Com

Who really cares as long as your happyWww@QuestionHome@Com

Read some existential stuff!. This is what you are talking about!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

you dontWww@QuestionHome@Com

ockham's razor says it does!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Have you ever thought about how you see or hear!?

When you see something , you teels that your eyes are seeing!. We can think of the same in another perspective!. When you have a dream in you sleep and see lots of things and your eyes are shut!!.

So we can think like seeing is a serious thoughts generated in your mind!. When you eye send signal to brain eventualy they got transformed into thoughts!.

The case is same with all the senses!. Every sensation is a thought!. How you can diffrentiate between real/not real!? existance and nonexistsnace!? what if all this is a dream of yours!?

We need an answer right!? go and ask your self Who am I!.
you eventualy will end up in tracing your thoughts, controliing gettin ride of them!. Then you will be able to understand what actually this world is!. you will eb able to come out of your dream! :)Www@QuestionHome@Com

Oh wow!.!.!.Your doing some deep thinking this morning!.

Well first off, none of us really know, each day when we wake up, that the next day we will wake up in the same environment, but its kind of common sense!.

If you were in a big tv show or commercial, you would probably be looking out your window at the ocean instead of a field!. Ya know what I mean!?

None of us know alot, except what we believe, and believing comes from having faith!.!.!.

I think when you can, you need to travel more, go to the East Coast, and the West Coast, see the world!.
I think that will help put your mind at ease!. The world does exist around us, we just have to travel there to see it!.!.!.!.just like people thousands of miles away from you, they probably have no idea, that you exist!.
Yes, God created the world, and we all exist, its just so darn big, its hard to imagine, what everyone else is doing!.!.!.!.
Have faith!.!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Look at the philosophy of George Berkeley - "to exist is to be perceived"!. Philosophers in the West don't like the idea of there being no external world beyond what is perceived (as it doesn't seem to chime well with scientific endeavour), so they simply assume one - however it is generally agreed that Berkeley's arguments on this point are sound!.

It's a separate question whether other people exist independently of you - there is no reason to assume they don't!. The first view is called idealism, the idea that you are the only being that exists is solipsism!. I much prefer the first to the second!. It would be an awfully lonely world in the solipsistic view!.

As for the force that you mention, this would be something else external to your senses, wouldn't it!? You have no proof of this any more than the the other things you've noticed you have no proof of!. So while the question is a good philosophical intuition, the force thing is a bit unnecessary!.

The thing about poeple being actors and so on makes you think of films like The Truman Show or The Matrix (watch this!), which are different versions of the same doubt, of whether the world we think we live in is a sham!. But in these films there is a "more real" world the existence of which isn't questioned (eg the world of the machines in The Matrix), where as Bishop Berkeley, who I mentioned, would equally question whether these existed beyond what was being sensed!.

Hope that helps a bit!. I like some of these other answers like the first and the one that says it doesn't matter as long as you're happy!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Ha!. I had the same feelings when I was 8!. I literally thought the world was created for my amusement and that everything was just a puppet to play with!. I think as I grew up I realized the world really doesn't revolve around me (that one was tough lol), that there is a natural, beautiful world around me and that I merely have the pleasure of experiencing for awhile!. I really just think it's hubris, but it's kinda sexy to think you are the center of the universe for awhile!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

I think what your talking about is soliliquism or something like that!. the belief that all that exists is myself and what I experiance at a given moment!. theres no way to disprove it, but its a very narrow way to veiw the world!. I suppose for our own sanity we maintain the faith that there is more to the world than what we directly see, taste, touch, hear, or smellWww@QuestionHome@Com

I believe!.!.!.!.

That "we" are not material only however, "we" are also dramatically miss-guided, miss-informed, and self responsible for "our" current mental and physical state!.

The reason why I am confident that we are more than just material is: Each of us have a unique biological identity!. On the surface of our cells is a family of identity receptors, which distinguish us as individuals!. These well studied subsets of receptors are technically called "Human Leukocytic Antigens" (HLA) and they are related to the function of the immune system!.

These are the receptors that are responsible for either being a good or bad match when someone wants to be or needs an organ donor!. The more of these that one has in common with another creates a scale of likelihood of successful transplant of any organ!. The fewer that you share with the donor your body will treat it as a threat and attack it!.

While scientists have focused on the nature of these immune-related receptors, it is important to note that it is not the protein receptors, but what activates the receptors that give individuals their identity!. Each cell's unique set of identify receptors are located on the membrane's outer surface, where they act as "antennas," downloading complementary environmental signals!. These identity receptors read a signal of "self," which does not exist within the cell but comes to it from the external environmental!.

In her book called "A Change of Heart" Claire Sylvia outlines her personal transformational experiences as well as similar experiences of other transplant patients!. Please read it for yourself or you might try Paul P!. Pearsall's book "The Heart's Code: Tapping the Wisdom and Power of our Heart Energy"

These people attest to the fact that our cells are ours because of the signal they are receiving from the environment!. Much like a TV receives a signal!. When you turn off a TV do you doubt that the signal is still being transmitted!? When organs continue to receive the same "self" that they were receiving in their original body but now are in a different body, what deductions can you derive from that!? What arguments and hypotheses can be supported by these phenomena!?Www@QuestionHome@Com