Do we exist?

I read this piece twice before publishing it and I think it is probably the boldest piece of philosophy I ever wrote. The reason is that the ideas in it were not criticized well; I seek your forgiveness, dear reader, for I am currently out of philosophical people around me. Therefore, I transfer the burden of criticism and objection to your logical wit.

If I told you, dear reader, that I exist, what am I telling you about myself? In other words what are the characteristics that are derived from the fact that I exist.

To me existence is all about effect. We say that something “Exists” if it affects us and/or gets affected by us. This definition suggests the relativity of existence and implies that nothing has absolute existence that is independent of personal perception.

For example, unicorns exist in my mind as an idea but it has no physical existence because I didn’t sense it with my physical receptors. On the other hand I exist as a physical entity relative to myself because I can sense my physical existence. However, my absolute existence cannot be proven nor disproven because in absolute terms I could be part of somebody else’s dream, and I do not believe that dreams have any physical existence.

The concept can be applied to God. God as a creator has no physical existence because we cannot sense him with our physical receptors. Moreover, for believers, God has a spiritual existence, which is his effect on believers. Notice that I do not think God exists at the same level to everybody. For example, God does not exist to atheists as a creator but he still exists as an idea.

Notice that everything we think about has a form of existence and the form depends on the way we perceive it. The flying spaghetti monster exists as an idea, and it could exist as a God relative to you if you believed and lived your life according to such. It won’t surprise me if it even heals from illness just like other forms of God. In short, we decide whether things exist physically, as an idea, or as a spirit through our perception and it is all relative to the perceiver.

Radi Alzayer

July 25th, 2011

Picture (wikipedia): In 2005, Oregon State physics graduate Bobby Henderson wrote an open letter about a "Flying Spaghetti Monster" as a satirical protest against the decision by the Kansas State Board of Education to permit the teaching of intelligent design as an alternative to evolution in public schools.