Descartes

Brandon Flanagan

@02680566

April 2, 2013

Dr. Kim

The 1998 movie, “The Truman Show,” relates directly to Descartes beliefs. After re-watching “The Truman Show,” it really made me question what is real, or if anything is real. In this movie, the main actor finds out that he is actually living in a false world, a bubble, no larger than the size of a small town. His entire life is a TV show. Which it then hit me; this idea can’t be proven false. If my life, that I am living in right now, were a TV show, and everyone around me were paid actors, how would I ever know? How could I tell the difference between bad acting and regular behavior in my friends and family?

Though it seems crazy, this brings out a huge and interesting point in our own existence. That it is and will always be difficult to be certain of anything in our lives. I feel as if people force themselves away from anything that is uncertain, and spend their time on searching for something concrete or absolute to build their lives on. This may lead them to God, the bible, reason, or something else that is concrete, or reliable. But even religion can be questioned.

I ask myself, when was the last time I was certain of something, then only to be shown that I was wrong? Was it a dream I had, that was so vivid, I didn’t even think that it wasn’t real? Or maybe it was an illusion where an artist fooled my mind into thinking that something disappeared or reappeared. And what about the mentally insane who are convinced that they are someone they clearly are not? Or are convinced that their invisible friend is real? Can I tell apart that from your own state of believing that my name is Brandon Jeffrey Flanagan or that my best friend is even real? Or can I disprove that I was just poofed into being ten minutes ago with made-up memories, and the people in my life were also given made-up memories of me? These situations, though we act as if they are not true, are not falsifiable. There is no way of proving any...