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00:00So, how much of this world do you think is genuine?
00:03Are there parts of your life that sometimes feel not quite right?
00:07Over the years, across centuries of thought, debate, false dawns and seeming breakthroughs,
00:13the world's greatest minds have been bent toward answering life's biggest questions
00:17such as these.
00:18So much so, we now have a range of philosophies that offer up answers.
00:23Which do you think is the one that truly gets to the heart of the matter?
00:27This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question…
00:31Can you trust reality?
00:34Do you need the big questions answered?
00:36Are you constantly curious?
00:38Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:41And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:44Broadly, we know that reality, that which we perceive as the tangible and unquestionable
00:49fabric of our existence, can be a disconcerting concept when examined closely.
00:55Even the act of questioning the nature of stuff can evoke a sense of unease in many,
01:00tapping into primal fears around a loss of control and unsettling the foundations upon
01:05which we usually live.
01:06Here, we're going to take a closer look at the real-world approaches that could offer
01:11some solutions, travelling the realms of philosophy, probing the intricacies of the mind-body problem,
01:17and pitching it all alongside the notion that there's probably more we don't know than
01:22do.
01:23To start off, why is it so discomforting to question what's real, anyway?
01:27The fear of the unknown, coupled with existential dread, can trigger a variety of phobias, such
01:33as basaphobia, the fear of falling, agoraphobia, the fear of open spaces, or, more specifically,
01:40solipsism syndrome, the fear of the external world being an illusion… all underscore
01:46the profound impact that our perceptions have on our psychological wellbeing.
01:51That word, perception, is going to be key.
01:54But clearly, whenever we do cast our lives in doubt, we should also ensure that we never
01:59dwell for too long.
02:00That said, thinking about thinking is also pretty fun.
02:04So, let's kick off with idealism.
02:07It posits that reality is fundamentally mental, or immaterial.
02:11In this worldview, everything exists within the mind, or consciousness.
02:15The idealist enigma is wrapped up in a famous philosophical problem.
02:20If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does that tree make
02:24a sound?
02:25While some say yes, others say no.
02:28Because sound, like all perceptions, is dependent on an observer.
02:33Real only happens when we perceive it, a mantra that might also be applied to Schrodinger's
02:38cat.
02:39On the other side of the coin, materialism asserts another reality, one that's entirely
02:44composed of physical matter.
02:47Materialists discount the existence of any non-material or supernatural entities.
02:52Probably the most well-known encapsulation of this perspective comes from the astrophysicist
02:56Carl Sagan.
02:57He famously said that, quote, the cosmos is within us.
03:01We are made of star stuff, fully emphasising the interconnectedness of all physical matter.
03:07For materialists, it's probably true that if the tree falls, it does make a sound, regardless
03:12of who is or isn't there.
03:15There are a range of midpoints between idealism and materialism, though.
03:20Dualism separates reality into two distinct substances, usually mind and matter.
03:25The mind-body problem, largely born out of the dualistic POV, explores the relationship
03:31between the mental and physical aspects of existence.
03:35In some ways, it's a much more complex depiction of what's really real, and therefore it leaves
03:40a lot more room for interpretation.
03:42However, the seeming split does at least mean dualists are confident that their own thoughts
03:48are to be trusted.
03:49René Descartes is an influential voice here.
03:52As a key figure in the Enlightenment, he wrote,
03:55Cogito ergo sum, I think, therefore I am.
03:59A line now widely used to highlight the certainty of mental existence, if nothing else.
04:04With all of this in mind, then, the question remains… can you trust reality?
04:09In a world where the simulation hypothesis suggests that our entire existence might
04:13be a complex, computer-generated construct, and where multiverse theories propose the
04:18coexistence of infinite realities and timelines, it's sure difficult to be certain these
04:23days.
04:24But this uncertainty ultimately boils down to the nature of perception.
04:28The fact is that our perception of reality is inevitably, inescapably, inherently subjective.
04:35It's wholly shaped by sensory input and cognitive processes, which means that no one's
04:40perception is the same as anyone else's.
04:42On a small scale, it means that no two people will watch this video in quite the same way…
04:48or taste a cake, or listen to a piece of music… but on larger scales, it means that no two
04:53people comprehend life in quite the same way, visualize existence, or appreciate the universe.
05:00In general, sensory experiences are a pretty fragile foundation for truth.
05:05But they're also all we have.
05:08If even our senses are sketchy and up for interpretation, then is there anything else
05:12we could look to for a firmer understanding?
05:15Ultimately, no, there isn't.
05:17Aside from our senses, our memories are probably the most important sources we have to shape
05:22our understanding of what's real.
05:24The certainty of memory, however, is famously fallible.
05:28In 1974, a key study into eyewitness testimony and leading questions was carried out by the
05:34psychologists Elizabeth Loftus and John Palmer.
05:37In it, participants watched a video of a car accident, and were then asked about the speed
05:42of the cars using different forms of a question.
05:46Some were questioned using the word, smashed, while others were asked using words like,
05:51hit or contacted.
05:53Results showed that the choice of words significantly influenced participants' estimates of the
05:57speed of the cars.
05:59Those who heard the word, smashed, gave higher speed estimates compared to other groups.
06:04Loftus and Palmer had demonstrated how easily memory could be distorted.
06:09Elsewhere, and more than forty years earlier, there was the War of the Ghosts study.
06:14Conducted by Sir Frederick Bartlett, participants were asked to read and then recall, at different
06:19intervals over time, a Native American folktale called War of the Ghosts.
06:24Results here showed that people tended to distort the story to fit with their existing
06:29schemas and cultural expectations, which in themselves may have shifted over time as well.
06:35Information in the story that was inconsistent with a participant's cultural background
06:40was often omitted or changed, showing how memory is clearly reconstructive.
06:45Finally, and in the mid-nineties, researchers Henry L. Roediger III and Kathleen McDermott
06:52conducted an experiment to show that people can easily remember things that not only happened
06:57differently, but in fact never happened at all.
07:00In their study, participants were presented with lists of words related to a critical
07:04word that actually didn't appear in the list.
07:07For example, they might see the words sleep, rest, dream, etc. while the critical word
07:13– i.e. bed – is absent.
07:15Later though, around half of the participants falsely remembered or recognized the critical
07:20word that was not presented.
07:22This revealed that false memories could be made based purely on association, or even
07:27a subconscious kind of guesswork.
07:29We know, then, that memory can be significantly influenced by external factors.
07:34We also know that even the memories that are correct are formed mostly by our sensory experiences,
07:40which are entirely subjective to us.
07:43Going one step even further, the wider philosophies about thought, reality, memory, about everything
07:49are ultimately subject to the same stumbling blocks.
07:53We all hear, interpret and remember them differently.
07:56We're all prone to adjusting them to fit into whatever it is we already know.
08:01With everything considered, it's perhaps little wonder that many would rather describe
08:04their worldview as philosophical scepticism.
08:08Philosophical sceptics cast doubt on our ability to know anything with absolute certainty.
08:13From Descartes' methodological musings on the nature of the mind, to Loftus and Palmer's
08:18seeming proof that we never remember anything correctly, the conclusion here is that we
08:23simply cannot trust our perceptions.
08:26Of all of the ideas we've covered, which do you most closely associate with?
08:31Are you an idealist or a materialist?
08:34A dualist or a sceptic?
08:36Have you ever remembered something very differently to someone else?
08:40Are you happy with your acquired sensory knowledge, or are you suspicious that the things you
08:45think you know are wrong?
08:47As always, air your views in the comments.
08:50Clearly, it's a labyrinth… but it also needn't be a minefield.
08:55Whenever we think deeply about who we really are, it can lead to a nasty helping of existential
09:00despair.
09:01However, if we embrace the uncertainty rather than fear it, then actually it has the potential
09:06to be a wondrous journey.
09:08Again, thinking about thinking can be fun.
09:12As to whether or not you can trust reality, there's perhaps no conclusive answer.
09:17The solution, it seems, is an infinite journey rather than a final destination.
09:22What do you think?
09:23Is there anything we missed?
09:25Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
09:29subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.