Philosophy Discussion Forums | A Humans-Only Club for Open-Minded Discussion & Debate

[d3r31nz1g3]

There are approximately 1.5 billion people in China alone.

What if they're all "fake people"? Just somehow?

What if it's all "the simple absurdity of such a massive amount of people".

What if you're constantly deceived as towards that fact and that it's actually true?

[Pattern-chaser]

What if the Moon was really made of green cheese, as the proverb describes?


[But also, what is the point or value of the speculation I just offered, above? I.e. what is the (philosophical) point of this topic?]

[d3r31nz1g3]

I don't think you can compare the notion that 1.5 billion people in China aren't actually real to a green cheese moon.

[Pattern-chaser]

I don't think you can compare the notion that 1.5 billion people in China aren't actually real to a green cheese moon.

I think they are equally possible, or equally ridiculous, depending on how you wish to look at them. I suppose either could be true, but both are pretty far-fetched, and that's what they have in common, I think?

[Pattern-chaser]

I repeat my question:

I.e. what is the (philosophical) point of this topic?

[d3r31nz1g3]

Well there are 8 billion people and dinosaurs lived 100 million years ago. I think the question is self-explanatory. How do you know that it isn't "just that" and you're being deceived?

[LuckyR]

I repeat my question:

I.e. what is the (philosophical) point of this topic?

It has been used for an extremely long time to demonstrate the fact that our perception is how we make sense of our environment. But ultimately can't go anywhere beyond the initial observation, by definition.

Ho hum, been there, did that.

[Sculptor1]

There are approximately 1.5 billion people in China alone.

What if they're all "fake people"? Just somehow?

What if it's all "the simple absurdity of such a massive amount of people".

What if you're constantly deceived as towards that fact and that it's actually true?

Fake people.Like you?

[HZY]

If 1 plus 1 is still equals 2, then 1.5 billion Chinese people should most likely in its probability being correct, possibly of course.

[Xenophon]

There are approximately 1.5 billion people in China alone.

What if they're all "fake people"? Just somehow?

What if it's all "the simple absurdity of such a massive amount of people".

What if you're constantly deceived as towards that fact and that it's actually true?

Why would you think it's untrue? I have lived here in China for 20+ years. Folk be thicker than fleas on ol' Fenrir wolf's back. What I questioned was the latest census' report that population actually went DOWN slightly in the last decade. (A tiny number---0.6/1000) but down all the same.) In any case, why would you think either number wrong?

By the by, word is India's population passed China this year. Can we trust that number? Why (or why not?)

In a nutshell, what's the point of the post? What if we're wrong about something we all "know"? You tell us. As framed, your query is rather like a greased pig. I can't get traction to grab on.

[Xenophon]

Actually, I may owe OP an apology. I just ran across an online essay today (on Amerika org) where Brett Stevens claims that Chinese kindergartens routinely inflated enrollment in order to up government funding. According to him, the number of non-existent students might be as high as 200 million. (A figure that strikes me as suspiciously high, being equal to about 15% of the population here.) If OP was referring to that alleged phenomenon, I get his somewhat hyperbolic/probably ironic point