13th April 2010, 12:31 PM
Reality is the stuff that exists whether we think it's there or not. We can be as objective as is possible considering our minds are imperfect and biased (specifically biased towards "middle sized things at middle speeds", moving around on the serengetti fighting for food). The best we can do is to constantly come up with tests to disprove our ideas, tests that try to remove as much bias as possible, and those ideas that survive the most rigorous testing we can subscribe to as true, tentatively.
As to where "reality" came from, to quote a sci-fi story, there is not enough data to provide a meaningful answer.
As to where "reality" came from, to quote a sci-fi story, there is not enough data to provide a meaningful answer.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)