The reality is not as obvious and simple as we like to think. Some things we have taken for granted are completely wrong. That is why scientists and philosophers have focused their efforts on changing our general perception. Here are ten examples of astonishing theories that could change our perception of the world.
1. The Great Ice Age.
This is a theory based on the assumption that our universe will one day simply freeze over. The universe has only a limited supply of energy, and according to this theory, it will freeze after the last supply is used up. The thermal energy produced by the motion of particles, the loss of heat, the natural law of the universe all mean that one day the motion of the particles will slow down and our universe will probably stop.
2. Solipsism.
Solipsism is the teaching that irrefutably, undoubtedly, only the consciousness of an individual exists, and the existence of the entire objective world is not provable from the point of view of cognitive theory. At first it seems silly - how could we completely deny the existence of the world around us? But if we really think about it, we can probably only be sure about the existence of our consciousness.
Let's think for a moment about all the dreams we've ever dreamed, experienced. Is it really not possible that everything around us is just a complicated dream? We have people and things around us, we can't doubt that - we can hear, see, smell, taste and feel. But on the other hand, we can't rely on that either. People who take LSD usually report that they can tap into their most convincing hallucinations, even though we don't take their visions as real. Even our dreams simulate feelings, after all different parts of the brain tell us what we will be able to perceive.
So what parts of existence can we not question?
3. Idealism.
Idealism is a branch of philosophy that either the whole or an indispensable part of every perfect reality is built by ideas or thinking; the world of material things without thought either could not exist or would not be completely "real".
So thought the father of idealism, George Berkley. Not everyone agreed with him, of course, and many thought his theory was silly. One of his opponents is said to have thrown a stone at him with his eyes closed, saying: "Well, I disproved it (the theory)!" The idea behind this, of course, was that if the stone only really existed in our imaginations, then the opponent wouldn't be able to throw the stone at her with their eyes closed.
Challenging Berkley is hard to fathom, especially today. He claimed that there is an omnipotent and omnipresent God who sees everything and everything at once. Really or not?
4. Plato and logos.
Everyone has heard of Plato. We dare to say that this is the most famous philosopher in the world. And like other philosophers, he too had his own opinion about reality. He argued that beyond our perceptions of reality lies a world of perfect forms. All we see is but a shadow, an imitation of real things. He argued that only through the study of philosophy can we catch a glimpse of true reality and thus discover the perfect forms of all that we perceive/understand.
In addition to this astonishing theory, Plato, who was a monist, also believed that everything was composed of a single substance. Which means that diamonds, like gold and dog poop, consist of the same basic material, but in a different form. This was partially supported by science with the discovery of atoms and molecules.
5. Presentism.
Presentism is a school of philosophy according to which the future and the past do not exist, only objects in the present exist. In other words - today's breakfast and every word of this article will cease to exist as soon as we read them - until we open it again. Saint Augustine says that the future is also imaginary because time cannot exist before and after it happened.
READ MORE: What is the most astonishing fact about the universe?
6. Eternalism.
Eternalism, sometimes known as the "block time theory" or the "block universe theory", builds on the standard method of modeling time as a dimension in physics and adds a similar ontology to time as space. This would mean that time is just another dimension, that events are in the future "already present" and that there is no objective flow of time.
The theory can be compared to a four-quarter cake. All time exists simultaneously and the measurement is determined by the observer. What he sees depends on what he is looking for.
Dinosaurs, World War II, and Justin Bieber would then all exist at the same time, but they can only be seen from a certain point. So if this is our view of reality, then the future is hopeless and deterministic free will is an illusion.
7. The "brain in a jar" theory. brain in a vat; in philosophy this phrase is used to illustrate various thought experiments).
"Brain in a jar" is a theory that is dealt with by thinkers and scientists who, like most people, believe that human understanding is based solely on subjective feelings.
Let's imagine that we are just brains in a jar controlled by aliens or some mad scientist... Can we really deny the possibility that this is our reality?
This is a modern interpretation of the problem posed by the Cartesian evil demon theory. We cannot confirm the actual existence of anything except our consciousness. If this seems reminiscent of the movie The Matrix, that's because this idea was actually part of the core story premise. Unfortunately, we don't have red pills in our reality…
8. Multiverse (parallel universes).
Anyone who hasn't spent the last decade isolated from the rest of the world has heard the word "multiverse" or "parallel universes" at least once. As many of us already know, parallel worlds are worlds that are very similar to our own, with little (or in some cases, big) changes or differences. The multiverse theory assumes that there are an infinite number of these alternate realities.
So what's the point? In a parallel reality, we've already killed the dinosaurs and they're lying deep underground because that's what happened there. In another parallel reality, we might be a mighty dictator. In the third, we may never be born because our parents never met.
9. Realistic fiction.
This is by far the most fascinating branch of multiverse theory. Superman is real. Yes, some of us would probably choose a different story for the sake of argument, but at the end of the day Harry Potter can be real. This branch of theory claims that due to the infinite number of parallel universes, everything exists somewhere. All our favorite fantasy heroes or fantasies are located in one of the parallel universes - in the one where they have all the conditions for realization.
10. Phenomenalism.
Phenomenalism is a philosophical direction that limits knowledge to the world of appearance and denies the possibility of knowing things as they are in themselves. Phenomenalist philosophers believe that objects exist as phenomena of consciousness. So, our laptop is only here because we are aware of it and believe in its existence, but when we turn away from it, it ceases to exist until we interact with it again. There is no existence without perception - this is the principle of phenomenalism.
