In respect to the way people live, the world is not real. This piece is strictly subjective, as it is part of (though now a bit modified) a strong argument I had with a psychologist quite recently. I will try to keep it succinct.
Forespeech:
A psychologist called me out to defend what I meant by ‘we live in a fake world’. Even though I made him understand that our argument is not a zero-sum game, he wouldn’t let me have a say, so there was no winner all through the time we spent arguing.
Along the line however, I realized two things about him: he thought that with ‘unreal world’, I’m saying that people pretend, and also, he wanted to prove that whether or not the world is real is a topic for the psychologists—not philosophers.
I could be wrong, but here is my perspective:
First, we are not said to be unreal because we are perceived to pretend, No!
In the first place, I don’t believe in the fact people pretend. To me, there is a difference between hypocrisy and pretence. So the opposite of being real is not pretending. Cleared!
Second, if pretending is not what we want to take for being unreal, then being real must have been a nebulous phenomenon man cannot just stumble upon.
It is as old as man. It starts with we trying to fit into the societies we find ourselves in, it starts when we don’t even think all by ourselves – when we are taught what differentiates left from right. While being taught as children is essential, it should be realized that some elements of a second and sometimes first nature are passed on to us. This, in the simplest of words, arguably contaminates what we are truly designed to be.
Third, man has nerves and hormones (see the endocrine system for more) controlling him. These things have a way of making him do just what he knows others want.
This, incontrovertibly, makes it relatively difficult for man to be real. Those who are indeed real can be likened to avatars. It takes a fortune of wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.
To relate it to the contemporary world, the topic of whether people like Nelson Mandela are real, is an arguable one.
Let’s maybe deviate a bit, discipline as (to me) the greatest value, is a major key to being real. Consider reading Immanuel Kant.
I may be wrong, but this is a part of my philosophy on whether we are real as humans.
[He went on to claim that philosophy has more unanswered questions than answers, claiming it shows the field’s ineffectiveness].
It is all lies if we believe that there should be answers to all questions, right? [Yes, he said].
I continued: Good! That makes philosophy different from psychology.
Is it not better to die seeking answers than to make up answers for every question? That’s what psychologists always do. There are many of your theories that are untrue; at least I know of some.
There is this psychological theory that says when people try several times and can’t find help, they stop trying. I read it in a book (I still have it here – so I can fetch the psychologist’s name later). In reality, this failed.
You see, philosophers are fastidious and assiduous in coming up with an answer in view of this flaw. Moreso, we believe that all conclusions are tentative – don’t forget. So if I say ‘Life is not real’, I am receptive enough to drag the idea with someone else. Psychologists think they do some kind of applied or pure science; they want to say it is this and want it to stand that way. I can say!!
…So when I said the opposite of being real (in life) is not pretence, I’m not saying that I know what the exact opposite should be. It’s something we can sit to figure out. And my saying that hypocrisy is not the same as pretending is another theory I just compared (not what we want to discuss here).
Since you want to believe that I’m saying people are pretending, you have to get it right that I’m not saying that!
I’m just saying that from the time of our birth, we are taught!!!!! Naturalists disagree with such life. If a person truly wants to do what society perceives as bad, for instance, they draw back because they have been taught against it.
[At least you’d agree this is common]. In the U.S. for instance, people tend to kill more openly than is the case in Nigeria. This is because society accepts such.Just understand that we are not real because we can hardly be. And note that our not being real has a way of making life better though.
I may be wrong, but the greatest right in the world is the right to be wrong – remember. Remember also that we are foolish if we die because of unratified ideas.
We can’t be done figuring things out in life!
****
That is the part of our conversation I’m willing to share. In this piece, I will go further on the topic in question, though. And I must admit that I might have said a certain mess while debating with my friend. There wasn’t time to edify my thoughts while we argued. See this:
I am of the opinion that we live in an unreal world, and that we can’t help it. People generally watch what they do mainly because they have to fit into society.
As it is generally held, for instance, people pretend when they make-believe, doing something phoney to cover the true intentions. Our being in an unreal world does not directly translate to this. It is like filtering our minds to do those things we have been taught as acceptable, rather than giving false impressions. You should see a difference between the two.
Criminals may be those who have gone against societal norms, but they were also unreal.
You are not unreal because you think you want to be, it is because you grow up to know it is the real way to live life.
In conclusion, I am not surprised that we don’t think of being real, because you will likely no longer fit into society when you do.
Being real may be equal to stealing in the open, having s£x in sacred places, discussing with an assassin or a kidnapper in the public, and all other weird but desired thinking of people.
Politicians don’t talk of k*lling one another on the media, yet politics is a dirty game! We are not real!
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