How Do You Know You Exist?
What leads you to believe that you really do exist as a human? How do you know you are not merely dreaming or in some sort of void or state that is different from your current perception?
The fact that if it was a dream, boy, what a long dream!. I believe I exist as a human because I just feel it, the things I have done in my life and reach the age I have reached make me think this is not merely a dream or state but real life in the real world.
I know I exist because I am aware of my own limitations and can surpass them. I know this sounds like something out of "Animatrix," but think about it, if I were a dream I would have a finite set of abilities and I could never aspire to be better than I am now.
I know that I exist because of the simple fact of feelings and the ability of learning. If this truely was a dream then we would not feel our emotions and feel the simple touch and moods of others. In addition to that, our ability to learn from not only our mistakes but others as well, proves a form of logic that we would not have dreaming. On a normal basis a dream is effected by something we have seen, heard, or done. If this was a dream what exactly is it we are dreaming of?
Would it even matter if we were 'dreaming' anyway? I know I am a locus of experience because I am, at this very moment, experiencing. That's an irreducible fact - whether or not I am experiencing a 'dream', some kind of computer inspired hallucination, a very long trip or am merely the figment of some cosmic being's imagination seems, when all is said and done, to make very little difference to the experience I have of myself.