Thought experiment «BRAIN IN A VAT» (English) #filosofix

Imagine that your brain is floating in a tank and being stimulated by a computer to make you perceive an entire world around you. How do you know that this world really exists? Can you really be sure that your brain isn't just floating in a chemical solution?

What is right? What is real? And who am I, after all? Philosophy asks life's big questions. We present these questions as animated thought experiments, and thereby show how fascinating and entertaining it is to ponder life.

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Tought experiment: Hilary Putnam
Animation: Nino Christen
Speaker: Blake Worrell
Music: Martin Bezzola

SRF Kultur / SRG SSR

[lolno]

I'm too high for this. I'm having an existential crisis lmao

[TimCrinion]

This troubled me deeply when I was a teenager. I can use my intuition to deduce that I'm not a brain in a vat. But why can I trust my intuition? It seemed like circular reasoning, and I became terrified that the rational probability of my intuition and sensory information being reliable was therefore 50%. Now I don't think this, I think that raw intuition is infallible. But it terrified me horribly for a while.

[SmashedHatProject]

I'm just a brain in a vat in Plato's cave

[Charmander]

I simply would not let the scientist do this to me. I’m built different

[garenreynolds]

I'm dyin' in a vat in the garaaage

[bojanmarina]

Excellent animation and narration - thank you both as a teacher and as a lover of wisdom!

[TerryUniGeezerPeterson]

If I was a brain in a vat and someone was orchestrating my environment and controlling all that I saw and experienced, why would they want me to see this video?

[glizzygladiator]

After doing a bit of acid its really hard to think deep enough to have another ‘existential crisis’. I am fully capable of thinking deeply, but no longer have as much emotion behind my thoughts. Not much, emotionally, is scary. I am very sure of myself these days, and as compelling as the thought is, we’re not brains in test tubes. And birds aren’t real.

[nameu]

If I was a brain in a vat, they wouldn't be showing me videos about being a brain in a vat. Checkmate.

[jamesatherton]

A lot of this comes down to personal choice.
Some logical arguments cannot be proven. That does not make them real or false.

[setman]

Amazing video! This theory is further supported by dreams, which also seem "real" to the dreamer.
One note, the video states: "our conscious experience is generated by processes in the brain." This isn't an agreed upon fact. According to the panpsychism theory, consciousness is a fundamental property of the universe. (it only seems that consciousness originates from the brain).

[filmfrosk]

Can't know for sure! I often wonder if the whole world is just in my head. Lots of stuff supports that idea, really. Like crazy coincidences or superstition.

[davidgruen]

One thing for sure is whether you are a brain or not, what really matters is whether you are enjoying it or not.

[captaineureka]

I had a really troubling and detailed dream a couple months back about being forced into a VAT and having to surrender to what I thought was really happening to me till I woke up suddenly, it continues to bother me a lot

[ponscardinal]

The thinker is the thought. Thought happens because of the VAt nutrient. And that is the brain which is continuous with the whole universe.

[AhamBramhasmi]

Very nice graphics and excellent explanation. Please make a detailed video

[KyleWMyers]

Supposing that it is possible for a moment that we have the technology to do such a thing, we would still be able to tell if it’s real because human interactions are complex and we would recognize unexplainable anomalies. It would be like trying to talk with a sophisticated AI, although to be fair I think it is possible that our AI capabilities are getting much better

[fatpanda]

If so, then are we all in the same vat?

[johnnycampell]

The scientist who controls my brain must be high or stupid because my life is boring

[Pinkbreloom]

As soon as the drugging happened, i immediately think re animator