9. Is there any way to test whether what you see and hear is objective reality?

[John]

9. Kelvin attempts to determine his own sanity by comparing his own mathematical calculations to external data. Is this a good test of external reality? Is there any way to test whether what you see and hear is objective reality or whether it is a projection of your own imagination?

[Zombie]

I think it was a good test, at least for him, because he was very scientific and mathematically minded. That question is one of the biggest questions we all have. Is what we experience real or not.

[Eadie]

In order to know if something is real or not, you need to focus on its different characteristics, such as; an orange which has color, taste and smell.

[Pip]

The imponderable question of existence! His method seemed plausible and clever to me, but I can't think of how someone as scientifically illiterate as I am could devise any such test.

[Kate]

I agree with Pip. I think in Kris's shoes I wouldn't really care if my lover was subjectively "real" based on the earth standards that I'd been raised with. Her very existence, and yes I'd argue that she exists, proves that there are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamt of ... or however that line goes.

[Sushicat]

Who can tell whether anything is real, indeed. Kris' method for verification is clever, but does not really challenge the fundamental question of reality vs. perception.

[Wolf]

I don't think it does. We discussed this at length in class and to the more mathematical minded (if I can call them that, me having studied some science in contrast to them...) it seemed to make sense. But I still don't see why he couldn't have made up both sets of numbers and, since he was aware how they should be different, also made up this difference. And that's what the whole story hinges on, doesn't it? I don't really want to go there, since the book is baffling enough as it is, but it could ALL be in Kelvin's mind, he could be an unreliable narrator.

In short, I don't think you can ever be sure. I firmly believe in reality, but I don't think you can prove it. Because there is just no proof you couldn't have also imagined.

[[deleted user]]

I am with Wolf how can you prove reality? I don't think you can.

Within the realms of the novel the way Kelvin tests it stands up for me.

[Kristel]

I think the point was, how do we decipher between hallucination and reality. Can that be done? They, each as scientist, used scientific formulas and experiments to try to establish reality. We who are not scientist would try something too. We would try to make sense of what was happening. I also think that they actually hoped they were hallucinating because at least that was an explanation.

[Jen]

I agree with Wolf

[Patrick]

I have to say that I some doubts as to whether Kelvin's method was foolproof. It could have happened that the ocean would be able to produce exactly the same readings as the ones Kelvin collated. However, through repeated experiments (e.g. examining Harey's blood in the microscope), he was able to convince himself (and the reader) that she was definitely not an hallucination.