Friday, December 16, 2005

Second-Person Solipsism

Any solipsists in the house? Yes? Well, break a leg.

For those who don't know, solipsism is the belief that the entire universe and everyone in it is the product of imagination. A solipsist believes that he or she is the only "real" being, and that everyone and everything else is just a figment.

I have a few problems with solipsism, not least of which is the fact that I didn't come up with it.

I was first introduced to the idea back in high school. A friend of mine (I'l call him Josh because that is his name) explained the concept to me, asserting that he was the one true consciousness. To this day I'm not sure whether he really meant it, or if he was just trying to get under my skin. (He also regularly wore fake fangs, dyed his hair roofing-tar black, and made a big show of practicing neopaganism, so it could really have gone either way.)

Obviously I didn't buy it. I have a hard time believing I'm imaginary. And nobody ever makes the opposite claim. I'm much more likely to listen to someone who's trying to prove that I'm the only real person, and that everyone else is a figment of my imagination.

But nobody ever makes that argument.

It's just as well, really. I'd have to be pretty messed up in the head to have come up with some of the things in this world. Quantum electrodynamics comes to mind. Heironymous Bosch. Timothy Leary. Frank Zappa. Hanna-Barbara.

Solipsists can be fun, though. Once you get past the fact that a solipsist is impossible to reason with (since every argument can be countered with "I just imagined you'd say that"), there are a ways to toy with him.

One way is to agree wholeheartedly with everything he says. This can be confusing to a solipsist, who is used to being argued with. He has a smug, unprovable answer for every argument you can throw at him - but is totally unprepared for agreement. This throws him off balance.

Of course, if mind games aren't your thing, there's also the brute-force method - my personal favorite. Simply smack your solipsist in the head repeatedly while chanting "Stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself, stop hitting yourself."

Yeah, it's immature and smartassed. But so's solipsism. What goes around comes around.

My imagination, my rules. Stop hitting yourself.

3 Comments:

Blogger Tice with a J said...

That's an interesting thought: the whole universe is a product of imagination, but not yours. Where does that leave you?

Someone should write a short story about that...

1:41 AM  
Blogger Danny Beans said...

Seems to be the central idea of most of the world's religions . . . . ;)

4:02 PM  
Blogger PomLindsay said...

Very nice Dan very nice...I was wondering if you liked the interp at Coffee House of Solopsism...I had a lot of fun doing it and a number of people found it entertaining. Love Always

11:30 AM  

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