Naked Science Forum
On the Lighter Side => New Theories => Topic started by: marcbez on 21/02/2014 19:31:02
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So I was thinking about this theory alot lately (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show_delusion (ftp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Truman_Show_delusion)), which basically states that patients of this have the delusion that their lives are staged or part of a TV show, exactly what happens in the movie. I came up with something that expands the theory a little further.
I tried to think if there was any way that I could prove to myself that the truman show delusion could be disproved, and I don't think there is any possible way of disproving it. In other words; what or how could you demonstrate that your life is in fact NOT like the Truman show? I tried to think of a way to disprove it and couldn't. The closest I came was that life is far too complex and free will is a direct way of telling that our life is not controlled by others without our knowledge. But even that doesn't rule it out completely...
Anyone have any ideas?
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... I tried to think of a way to disprove it and couldn't ...
You are not alone ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_hypothesis
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The key point about the Truman Show was that he had no idea that it was all staged, and the show fell apart when he discovered the truth. So one test of whether you are part of an illusion is whether you think you might be, in which case you can't be. Another would be to choose an activity that has always been limited by common sense or other people's advice and insistence, and push it to the physical limit: it isn't easy for everyone to fly to the moon or sail off the edge of the earth (as both Columbus and Truman did) and just find out what happens when you attempt the allegedly impossible.
"Free will" is mostly an illusion! We are constrained from birth by circumstance, society, and our physical limits, but we can always explore the limits of those constraints and look for anomalies that would indicate the finite nature of our apprently infinite universe.