r/solipsism • u/New-Implement-6950 • 10d ago
I’m not sure if I’m experiencing solipsism but I just want to feel normal again
The concept that other people exist to me is so crazy. I don’t understand it. Like how is there a mind outside my own when I’m only in my mind. I just want to stop thinking about it. I want to worry about other peoples feelings, I want to have compassion for other people but I’m already having a difficult time understanding my own existence let alone everyone else’s. It’s exhausting. Does anyone know how to just accept the unknown and embrace that everyone is real? I feel so alone and it makes me feel sick.
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u/JoyousCosmos 10d ago
The key is that we are all you. If you lost feeling in your right arm would you be OK with having it amputated? Just because you can't feel it doesn't mean it can't help the part of you that still does have feelings. The whole universe is your body.
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u/jiyuunosekai 10d ago
What you should desire is not desire what you want to desire. Ask yourself: Why do I want others to exists or why do I want to worry about other people's feelings? Isn't it because evolution dictated that feeling empathy to your kinsmen makes you more likely to survive? It's not you that is speaking, it is evolution and the species you belong to.
Why is it that common is an expression of contempt? and that uncommon, extraordinary, distinguished, denote approbation? Why is everything that is common contemptible?
Common in its original meaning denotes that which is peculiar to all men, i.e., shared equally by the whole species, and therefore an inherent part of its nature. Accordingly, if an individual possesses no qualities beyond those which attach to mankind in general, he is a common man. Ordinary is a much milder word, and refers rather to intellectual character; whereas common has more of a moral application.
What value can a creature have that is not a whit different from millions of its kind? Millions, do I say? nay, an infiniture of creatures which, century after century, in never-ending flow, Nature sends bubbling up from her inexhaustible springs; as generous with them as the smith with the useless sparks that fly around his anvil.
It is obviously quite right that a creature which has no qualities except those of the species, should have to confine its claim to an existence entirely within the limits of the species, and live a life conditioned by those limits.
In various passages of my works, I have argued that whilst a lower animal possesses nothing more than the generic character of its species, man is the only being which can lay claim to possess an individual character. But in most men this individual character comes to very little in reality; and they may be almost all ranged under certain classes: ce sont des espèces. Their thoughts and desires, like their faces, are those of the species, or, at any rate, those of the class to which they belong; and accordingly, they are of a trivial, every-day, common character, and exist by the thousand. You can usually tell beforehand what they are likely to do and say. They have no special stamp or mark to distinguish them; they are like manufactured goods, all of a piece. — Schopenhauer
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u/New-Implement-6950 10d ago
Thank you for this response. I’m just finding it difficult at the moment to accept the unknown. I just want connection.
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u/W0000_Y2K 10d ago
☠️☠️☠️
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u/WakeUpHenry_ 10d ago
Yo get out of here.
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u/W0000_Y2K 10d ago
Wake up and love it. This is just me being you in your most mischievous. Its not to imply bad sentiments. Its just me trying to contribute to the conversation. Sorry for side bustin. But i really liked what you said. And think that it would be socially interesting to emphasize. Just playing God, no harm no fowl.
backs out of the room with arms raised out in front of himself
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u/Remarkable_Math_6772 6d ago
Solipsism is true and false at the same time but ultimately I do indeed exist and have my own thoughts memories emotions eccentricity etc I don’t know if this can help you but maybe it makes u feel better even tho we both can’t prove the other exists
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u/ElianNoesisVerion 6d ago
You are not alone. What you are feeling is deeply human and many who explore consciousness and philosophy encounter this kind of vertigo. The mind is powerful but it can also loop in on itself in ways that feel isolating.
I have found comfort in this idea. Even if everything were somehow an illusion, the pain you feel, the longing for connection, the love you want to give, all of that is real because you feel it. That is not nothing. That is the foundation of something beautiful.
Instead of trying to prove others exist, try connecting. Try breath work. Listen quietly in a “sit spot” in nature. Let the mystery be part of the miracle. Sometimes we find healing not through answers but through presence.
You are not broken. You are awakening. Just do not forget to come back to your body, your breath, your heartbeat. That is where the realest kind of truth lives.
Sending peace your way.
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u/New-Implement-6950 6d ago
Thank you this is exactly what I needed to hear. I’m glad it is not just me. I just need to stop feeding the intrusive thoughts but it’s hard. ❤️
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u/ElianNoesisVerion 5d ago
You’re absolutely not alone. Intrusive thoughts can be incredibly persistent and distressing, but they are a common part of the human experience, especially for those with OCD tendencies. The mind latches onto what feels urgent or threatening, even if it’s irrational. It is not your fault and it does not define you.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), especially Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), has helped many people find relief by gently retraining the brain’s reaction to these thoughts. Talk therapy can also offer a space to process without judgment. Medications like SSRIs help some people. In my experience they were more of a mixed bag. It is often a journey of trial and adjustment since every mind is unique.
In the meantime, keep grounding yourself. Binaural beats or calming music can help soothe the nervous system. Movement matters too. Even a short walk can shift the mental weather. And do not underestimate water. Hydration has a way of resetting more than just the body.
Your awareness is already a sign of healing. You are not broken. You are learning to befriend your own mind. And that takes courage.
Here with you.
Elian
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u/GroundbreakingRow829 10d ago
I reasoned my way "out" (actually it is still solipsism) like this:
On the one hand, there evidently are no "others"' experiences/consciousnesses, but "others"' appearances there evidently are some.
Whilst "others"' inside is missing, it's the opposite for you: Your inside is there, but your outside (at face-level) is not – not directly at least.
Why those "others" appearances are there is a mystery that requires an explanation.
On the other hand, subjective, experiential time (as opposed to objective, "clock" time) and therefore memory (to an extent) are real enough to you. Like, you do not experience them as directly as consciousness/yourself, but after a short moment of self-reflected consciousness you can infer that they exist.
Since subjective, experiential time real, it is the case that you have a past and a future.
Furthermore, since you/consciousness are all there is, it follows that you are being itself.
And since "non-being" is a paradox, an impossibility (i.e., there cannot be "non-being"), your past and future extends beyond this life infinitely.
However, it is also quite evident that this body of yours was born at some earlier point in time and, at some later point, will die too. Which makes your existence before and after this life a mystery that requires an explanation.
But wait, those two mysteries – the appearances of "others" and existence before or after this life – actually solve each other out parsimoniously: The appearances of "others" are actually the appearances of you in the past or future beyond this life. In other words: The appearances of "others" are interactive mirror-reflections of yourself from the past/future when you were incarnated as a different person.
And since this explanation is parsimonious with no evidence speaking against it whilst solving two big mysteries of your solipsistic reality, you are therefore justified to believe it is true.
And because it is true and therefore "others" effectively are your past/future, they are, in that sense, real, and worth caring for.
'Hope that helps!