Does reality exist?

Question

A person can have their own reality i.e.(Believing in santa claus) but santa is not real. Does personal reality become real if one believes in their reality or does it not exisit. wat is reality.

Answer 1

If one develops a personal reality which is too far removed from what the majority recognize as reality, the one with the aberrent view is likely to find him-/herself confined to a mental institution! If an adult, against all indications to the contrary, were to express a sincere obstinate belief in the existence of Santa Claus, that person would soon be considered eccentric, at the very least, psychotic possibly. Reality, in my opinion, consists of actual proven or sensate events and situations, tangible, visual, audible occurrences. Anything that is imperceptible is suspect as reality.

Answer 2

There is reality (the world as it is) and perceived reality (the world as one would like to think it is).

There is an argument amongst theoretical physicists that says all possible outcomes exist. Meaning that if in this universe you take a left at an intersection, somewhere you are taking a right at the exact same moment in an alternate universe. Some argue that once you make the decision to turn left/right all other options cease to exist. This is called "collapse of the wave theory".

So, if you asked a theoretical physicists if Santa really exists he might say, "yes, just not here, right now."

Making your perceived reality a true reality is a tougher thing to tackle. Some Buddhists believe that through deep thought and meditation one can have their wishes become reality. Other religions believe this can be achieved using prayer. I personally believe that you create your own experiences through concentrated thought. If you want to have good things happen to you, you must think that good things will happen to you.

Fun question, thanks. I don't get to mix philosophy and physics that often...

Answer 3

I like Descartes' answers to this. "Cogito ergo sum." "I think, therefore I am." We exist because we realize that we do. We couldn't imagine reality if it weren't true. We can make things up in reality, but, deep down, at least someone knows that they aren't true. Take, for example, a child who believes in Santa Claus. She believes that he is real, but the person who invented him knows he wasn't real. Reality is what everybody is programmed to believe: that they are alive and living. It doesn't matter if we really exist or not, because even believing that we exist proves that something exists.

My brain hurts.

Answer 4

SANTA DOESN'T EXIST?! Guess I won't be getting a new DS(it's messed up) or a PSP this year...
But yeah, in a way, I guess people can have their own reality, with exceptions of course. Such as things like Santa not existing isn't in their "reality" unless by reality, you mean a mental state where whatever they think is true... This answer makes no sense at all huh? Even I'm confused by it...

Answer 5

Okay, well, let me answer first for those under 10yo children who might be reading this weblog: of course he is!

Now, let's dig into it just a bit further, as the mythology of Santa Claus has a long and interesting history. First off, Santa's proper name is Saint Nicholas, though he's picked up a lot of nicknames throughout the years, including Kris Kringle, Father Christmas and Sinterklaas.

Saint Nicholas of Myra was a saint who lived back in the 4th Century in Byzantia (modern-day Turkey) who had the reputation of secretly giving gifts to the poor. Most famously, legend has it that he presented three desperately poor daughters of a Christian with dowries so they wouldn't end up as prostitutes.

St. Nicholas is still revered as the patron saint of seamen, merchants, archers, children, prisoners, pawnbrokers, and even prostitutes. He's also one of the patron saints of Russia, now that I think about it. A busy guy.


Saint Nicholas of Turkey (from Wikipedia)Saint Nick inspired two legends: Nikolaus in Germany, and Sinterklaas in the Netherlands, both of which directly contributed to the legend of Santa Claus himself.
Depictions of Santa Claus as a jolly, heavy white bearded older man are apparently directly lifted from the Russian mythological character Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost). Ded Moroz is historically represented as wearing a red coat, fur boots and a long white beard. Since Russian immigration directly influenced much of the Western European and then American tradition, it's very likely that our current picture of Santa Claus is directly from Grandfather Frost.

Many of the historical legends behind Santa Claus also involve children leaving out fodder in their shoes for the horse that Saint Nicholas, Sinterklaas, or similar rode. Most likely that's what has evolved into the modern tradition of hanging stockings by the fireplace, actually.

The definitive modern interpretation of Santa Claus, however, is widely agreed to have been The Night Before Christmas (formerly known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas", actually), wherein Santa is described as being heavyset and riding a sleigh pulled by eight reindeer who are named for the first time in this 1823 publication. Another popular publication early in the 19th Century was The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum.

Okay, so that's the academic side of things. Interesting, but missing a certain level of heart, of soul.

So is there a Santa Claus?

Well, we live in a world where the idea of someone rewarding good behavior in this life, rather than the next (or at the door to the Pearly Gates) sounds darn nice, and particularly for children, is a good reminder of the rewards of thrift, virtue, compassion and honesty. And those are sorely missing attributes in our modern world, if you ask me.

So yes, I think that there is a Santa Claus.

I'll certainly make sure we leave a plate of cookies and glass of milk out on Christmas Eve. How about you?

Answer 6

In a broader experience, if all human beings did not exist, could existence exist? the respond is that one and all different residing organisms could nevertheless have sensory concept of the existence of the universe. Their version for survival could nevertheless characterize their concept of fact of their very very own worldwide-view, no rely how constrained or microscopic that would nicely be. If we've been to do away with each and each specie until eventually at last we get to the final specie (single-celled micro organism?), however the final specie could be waiting to word of its very own existence. The universe does not have ceased to exist, notwithstanding if that final specie is eradicated. Stars will nevertheless be born out of the cosmic dusts and a few will explode into supernova and the cycle of maintains . . . . until eventually by potential of a few quirk of nature, some fortuitous combinations of components and compounds set off some imprints for existence (on some conducive planets) to start.

Answer 7

Reality is reality and nobody can actually change that.

Personal reality however is subjective but can be very real to you if you truly believe. There are stories of people dying from a curse only because they believed in it while others that didn't believe lived. Or they believe in some deity and promises of a perfect afterlife and so live their lives in a certain way.

So in that way yes, your reality can affect your daily life.

Answer 8

I have worked as a long term care social worker for years and I can tell you without any doubt, there are alternate realities.

If the person has a mental illness, those "alternate" realities are more real to him/her than what we see as reality.

I have known quite a few people with dementia who live happily in their memories and view the present day reality as an unwelcome intrusion.

There were many times that I truly wished I could visit their realities to see what they saw.

Answer 9

Although there are billions of perspectives, we can collectively prove certain objective truths. For instance, you can believe that gravity doesn't exist all you want, but it is a certainty that if you jump from a plane at high altitude without any safety equipment, you will die. So, although each individual on this planet has his or her own relative reality, it is obvious that there are certain truths in this world and universe that can't be disproved.

Answer 10

Santa Claus is not real!?

Reality is a perception.