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I know this example, but I want to see what people think from their own point of view. Like,Do things exist independently of our awareness of them?
I have a similar question: can things exist if they have no physical connection at all to their surroundings? The double slit experiment shows that light seem to be information (if we pretend waves are information) until its forced (by observing) to exist. This works with photons, electrons, neutrons, atoms and even particles. So what if i take a cup and put it in a "magic box" that disconnects it from every "observing" system? Does it vanish? Is it gas if i open that box again?
My cat
This isn't really an answer to your question, but I think it's more in the spirit of it than some of the actual answers you're getting;
Does something exist just because you observed it?
Welcome back Heidegger
Of course. I think there are many things that we haven't detected because we lack the instruments or even the concept they exist
Humans are constantly discovering life on Earth in places it was thought impossible, like deep underground or in very hot water around volcanic vents.
Certain cancers (HPV, EBV, HBV) have been discovered to be caused by viruses, not just randomly out of control cell replication.
IMO even astronomers suffer from short-sightedness. They tend to classify things in terms of our own little solar system when actually with billions of stars and trillions of planets there are likely very many astronomical objects and phenomenon that we have never observed or thought of.
Yep. There are many billions of people around the world who don't know you exist yet you do. Although how sure are you that you exist?
Well at least one person is aware they exist, so anyone does not qualify
How do you know a rock isn't aware of its existence?
Things can and do.
Most likely, yeah. All you have to do is find some object that you hadn't observed previously, which leaves evidence of having existed. You come across a snail moving across the sidewalk with a slime trail behind it. Either (1) the snail and slime trail blipped into existence just to serve your perception or (2) the snail was there making a trail prior to your having perceived it. You can reasonably assume the latter is more plausible.
You might enjoy Hegel's Phenomenology of Spirit. It's difficult but worthwhile. It sort of reconstructs epistemology/consciousness from the most basic fundamentals, starting with sense.
Depends on your position on philosophical realism.
I am half awake and my brain for some reason decided that you had written βpolitical realism.β I literally read it and was like βhuh, makes sense,β before moving on and then abruptly stopping when my actual processing finally caught up, like βwait, what?β
The more I sit here considering, the more it feels like political realism should really be a thing.
Looks like it actually is a thing!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism_(international_relations)
I was thinking more about the βrealityβ which politicians present to people than states interacting with one another, but this is interesting too.
At one point no one knew how gravity worked and yet the earth still orbited the sun
So, can something exist that is in no way quantium entangled with anything that comprises your experience of existence?
If you subscribe to the multiworld principle, basically anything potentially viable can and will.
Can something exist if you are not aware of it?
Most of reality. Human experience is quite limited.
The duality behind being both aware of something that can exist without your knowledge while also not being aware of its existence. Depending on if it's conception has been conceived first. Then it would exist without any knowledge and would count. But if you know it can exist than its already a possibility.