Existential hearthlings...

[Chakravanti]

I found this slightly amusing. Here's the clip from our chat:

[10:51:24] haba: I have an existential dilemma
[10:51:29] Dataslycer: ?
[10:51:39] haba: does the inside of my mansion exist when I am not inside it?
[10:52:27] Darkren: elaborate
[10:52:57] haba: How can I be certain that it doesnt cease to exist the moment I leave
...
[10:54:41] birger (burgingham): haba do you mean in terms of game mechanics or are we talking about the philosophical dilemma here? ^^
[10:54:52] haba: ...game mechanics?
[10:55:03] … ...game?
[10:55:21] Darkren: ...the game?
[10:56:22] Dataslycer: I don't have the answer to it but from what I guess, a record of your home is saved somewhere unless that house is gone.
[10:56:44] Darkren: Haba
[10:56:48] … Bring a critter inside and drop it
[10:57:04] … Then leave and come back later, noting its location
...
[11:01:09] Chakravanti: digital philosophy
[11:01:12] … Cyberdelic
[11:03:38] … He's role playing an existentialist primitive

[theTrav]

Define "exist"

[loftar]

Define "exist"

That shouldn't really be a joke, though. ;)

From time to time, I've seen/heard people discussing whether abstract things such as numbers or vacuum "really exist", not realizing that it is as straight forward as simply delineating their usage of the word "existence". (That is, since numbers certainly "exist" as imaginable concepts, usable in thought; but do not "exist" physically in the real world.) Of course, the problem isn't limited to just existence, but to all sorts of abstract concepts that people don't seem to grasp beyond a vague meaning of the word itself.

[Cheswin]

If a person walks into his mansion while he is not inside does this person also not exist? When this person speaks to him while inside the mansion and he is not, is this disembodied voice coming from the void that is non-existence or merely the sound of his sanity shattering on the floor of reason and logic?

[eql]

Wittgenstein would say its a non question... i think. lol

[Ando]

Wittgenstein was a beery swine who was just as sloshed as Schlegel.

[theTrav]

Define "exist"

That shouldn't really be a joke, though.

From time to time, I've seen/heard people discussing whether abstract things such as numbers or vacuum "really exist", not realizing that it is as straight forward as simply delineating their usage of the word "existence". (That is, since numbers certainly "exist" as imaginable concepts, usable in thought; but do not "exist" physically in the real world.) Of course, the problem isn't limited to just existence, but to all sorts of abstract concepts that people don't seem to grasp beyond a vague meaning of the word itself.

Agreed, people are stupid