...
So: I believe nothing. I suspect a great many things; I suspect that some of my suspicions might even turn out to be true, in some sense; or at least, to point towards some kind of truth; but I don't believe in any of them.
.....
Athanor, TOAOTAGO 33o
But you believe that your thoughts exist, that your thoughts (and opinions) are real, do you not?
They are real enough that you can express them in the written word, are they not?
And since you are expressing them, i.e., writing them down and posting them in this thread, does that not make you real, and not just "suspected" real?
After all, a figment cannot do that.
And I am reading them and commenting on them; and I am not part of your conditional, "suspected" existence, because other people respond to my posts, so does that not make all of that "suspected" existence objectively real, concrete?
Just askin', juneau....
Well, it's all a matter of subjective probabilities, I guess. I seem to be real, as far as I can tell, so I suspect that I give myself a high subjective probability of being real; probably approaching 100%. You're replying to my posting, Deimos, and making points that seem quite intelligent, so I suspect that the probability - for me - of your existence is also quite high, but not quite as high as my subjective probability of my own existence. I suspect that you're not one of the moons of Mars . . . but, obviously, I can't be 100% sure of that . . . .
I suspect that you might see these things differently, and that's perfectly fine. Or am I getting just altogether to convoluted???
It's "perfectly fine" until I have to decide if I can rely on you for .....well, for anything.
I can't rely on someone who suspects all of reality to be up for debate.
If I ask you to give me a ride because my car is on the fritz, and you say, yes, I'll be by at 8AM to give you a ride to work, how do I know that at 7:30 you may decide that
1) I don't exist, or
2) I exist but what I said is suspect (that my car is not working) because you believe that I am seeing a situation that isn't real.
I mean, I can't even take you up on an invitation to your home to have a dinner or a drink, because I don't know how you view the bottle that says "drain cleaner" vs the bottle that says Scotch, or the box that says "rat poison" vs the box that says "sugar."
It's not only you about whom I would have reservations in my dealings; it's anyone who espoused your philosophy.
Let's say the city/ county hired an "inspector of bridges" (here in the US it would be someone with a Degree in Mechanical Engineering) who decided to embrace your philosophy.
So he goes out to inspect bridges and when he sees a weakened weld or a severly rusted bolt he decides that what he is seeing might not be the real situation and so doesn't note it.
He thinks " Well I can't be certain of what I am seeing."
And if you (or he) argues that you wouldn't do that where safety or other people's lives are concerned, it still doesn't change anything.
You have already put me on notice that all of reality is subjective to you, so I have to conclude that even your own convictions don't hold sway with you because at any time they are suspect. You stand entirely on shifting sands.
(Good heavens!...If my Doctor thought the same way

I'd have to find another doctor!)