From: rotflol2@hotmail.com   
      
   On 2025-04-09, D  wrote:   
   > Some random thoughts from an email discussion targeted toward the   
   > solipsist. Enjoy! =)   
   >   
   > Ask him if he believes: "Every rule has an exception."   
   >   
   > If he says no, then there are rules thay have no exceptions. I.e. there exist   
   > inviolable laws. So in addition to the existence of his mind there are also   
   > laws.   
   >   
   > If he says yes, then the rule "Every rule has an exception" would itself also   
   > have an exception, which again implies there are some rules without   
   exceptions.   
   > Which are inviolable laws. Therefore laws exist.   
   >   
   > This might seem like a parlor trick, but it is just showing how the logical   
   > inconsistency of the statement "Every rule has an exception." Forces us to to   
   > see that it is false, and therefore the converse of that statement is   
   > necessarily true.   
   >   
   > The necessary truth of the converse "not every rule has an exception" implies   
   > there are rules that have no exceptions, so there are laws, there is order,   
   and   
   > reality is law-governed.   
   >   
   > Now, if only we can work out what those laws are.. And that is what science   
   is   
   > about: figuring out the laws that explain the kinds of experiences we have.   
   >   
      
   "Every rule has an exception" could itself be the exception.  IF there   
   are no other rules for which there are no exceptions, then the "Every   
   rule has an exception" rule, is itself the exception.   
      
   > OR   
   >   
   > Even if this conscious state is an illusion, there still must be something   
   > responsible for that illusory conscious state.   
   >   
   > OR   
   >   
   > Functionalism might be another path. If the solipsist accepts functionalism,   
   > then even if the other people they see are only figments of their   
   imagination,   
   > then their imagination must be performing a process at least as complex as is   
   > necessary to generate the appearance of intelligent conscious behavior, and   
   > such processing would necessarily invoke the consciousness associated with   
   > such a complex process.   
   >   
   > Fun thoughts to play around with. =)   
   >   
      
   I don't think Solipsism requires the external world to be a product of   
   imagination.  It could be a simulation, in which you are the only   
   conscious observer, or it is driven by your consciousness.  The universe   
   could be running to laws which provide a coherent history of events to   
   the conscious observer, and the ONLY thing that is occuring in the   
   universe, or perhaps, just in our own particular universe (if there is   
   indeed a multiverse), is an interaction between our conscious   
   observation and laws.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)