Can You Trust Reality? | Unveiled - video Dailymotion

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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.

Can You Trust Reality? | Unveiled

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