How do you prove something does not exist

My son gave me a letter from Dept Of Communities last night which should have been sorted a week ago. I am taking the morning off work to visit this government department to help him sort (I am his legal carer). Apparently they require proof that he lives in shared accommodation. Yes, with his mum, dad and brother, and that he does not have a rental history and references from an agent. No, because he has never moved out of home before. How hard can it be?
 
All I know is that if a tree falls in a forest, and no one is around to hear it or see it, that is the perfect place for a John Farnham concert to be held.
 
Please, go on, make it into an interesting philosophical thread. Our problem was sorted in five minutes, as the experts above suggested.
 
Please, go on, make it into an interesting philosophical thread. Our problem was sorted in five minutes, as the experts above suggested.

Luckily the answer was practical, philosophical answer usually aren't very satisfactory, something like, "To prove that something does not exist one should show proof of absence rather than absence of proof."
 
Please, go on, make it into an interesting philosophical thread. Our problem was sorted in five minutes, as the experts above suggested.

Very well, let us discuss the various aspects of Ontology (philosophy, not IT)...... :D

How do you know you are not hooked up to a giant computer that is generating the perception of reality in which you live through means of directly stimulating your brain? (I always think of Player's avatar when I discuss this topic...)

The Y-man
 
Very well, let us discuss the various aspects of Ontology (philosophy, not IT)...... :D

How do you know you are not hooked up to a giant computer that is generating the perception of reality in which you live through means of directly stimulating your brain? (I always think of Player's avatar when I discuss this topic...)

The Y-man

Or live in a snow globe..like the ending on the tv show, St Elsewhere.
 
Or live in a snow globe..like the ending on the tv show, St Elsewhere.

Given that it doesn't snow where I live every time there's an earthquake, I obviously don't live in a snowglobe.

I'm fine about being hooked up in a virtual reality simulation, but some people truely believe they can dodge bullets, yet fail miserably.
 
How do you know you are not hooked up to a giant computer that is generating the perception of reality in which you live through means of directly stimulating your brain?

Apparently we and everything around us might just be holograms! Just projections of information from the edge of the universe. Talk about losing all meaning of your existence.

http://www.dailygalaxy.com/my_weblog/2011/09/is-our-universe-a-hologram-in-1982-a-litttle-known-but-epic-event-occured-at-the-university-of-paris.html
 
Apparently we and everything around us might just be holograms! Just projections of information from the edge of the universe. Talk about losing all meaning of your existence.

dude - don't start drawing lines like that.

you could then say that as our consciousness is nothing but electrical signals and that it's possible to exist as a conscious entity purely as energy in a sub-space realm.

in other words, a conscious being doesn't need a body, just a field of energy.

now let that one sink in for a bit.
 
Back
Top