did it happen? Do i exist? (life, self)

[loose cannon]

I sat in a bookstore reading a Sartre book about life and consciousness as Tori Amos played on the background. it was raining and an fifty something gentleman was reading a Mechanical Magazine to my left.

[DauntlessDan]

Damned if I know. I wasn't there to witness/confirm your experience. Try going back and duplicating the process and see if it passes scientific muster.

[charlygal]

I didn't realize it was time for a game of "see, I'm smarter than you."

Two situations:

1. Does the OP exist to me, Charlygal? Yes, I answered the post created by Loose Cannon. So Loose Cannon exists for me.

2. Does the OP exist to...the OP? Loose Cannon, you will have to make that decision for yourself. Perhaps you don't really exist to yourself. Although, if you had read Descartes...

[mainebrokerman]

hello hello hello is there anybody in there????

just nod if you can hear me, is there anybody home?

[harpoonalt]

No, you are a figment of my imagination.

[tofur]

Originally Posted by harpoonalt

No, you are a figment of my imagination.

I told one of the characters in my lucid dream last night the same thing. They were affronted, and claimed that I was a figment of their imagination.

[Aleister Crowley]

I digress so I dissociate from reality which makes my life easier and more fulfilling. There is no amount of vanity that can match a genuine article. Authenticity is something that escapes the imaginative or imagination of many others.

Well one thing is for sure - it would be illogical for you to deny that you exist. In order to do so you would have to presume that you do exist. Ergo, your existence is axiomatic to any further thought and argument that proceeds from you - even the idea that you don't exist or the one that questions it.