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>I commute on the train sometimes with a man who truly beleive he is the only one that exists. And that the rest of us are his imagination. He is the center of his own universe. No kidding here.>>>
>>>Solipsism? Wow! I bever encounted a live specimen of that one but I always thought about it as an interesting proposition.
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>>It does not supprise me that there is a term for it.
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>>He tells me that he learned about it at a seminar, that taught him the philosophy. And I ask him "Why would anyone want to teach such a thing to poeple that do not exist except in their own mind. Aren't they just teach themselves?". And he responded "Thats just crazy talk", I replied "Yes, it is." :)
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>That is, if his lecturer was a solipsist himself. I think solipsism is at least mentioned in any philosophy 101. I'm not really sure whether I heard about it in the high school course, or was it in a chat with a friend.
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>There may be a slight misunderstanding about the meaning of "teach", maybe? I'm using the term in the educational, not in the lithurgical sense. I can say I was "taught" solipsism - informed about it and about the major objections against it - but nobody ever tried to convince me to become a solipsist.
Once again, you are right about use of the word "taught". But it does not take away from the humor of the story.
Greg Reichert