2007-05-05 Imaginary Friends

How can you tell an imaginary friend from a real person? That question puzzled me today, as I prepared for my week off by doing nothing at all. There is this movie A Beautiful Mind, where the chief character has two imaginary friends that nobody else can see. He doesn't know that they are not real people, and for some strange reasons he doesn't figure it out until it's almost too late. Or think of The Sixth Sense, where Bruce Willis is dead and doesn't even know it. There seems to be no obvious way to prove to yourself that you or anybody else exists. Scary thought, isn't it? Take yourself, for example. Yes, you. If you read this, take a minute and think about why you know that you do exist. And then prove to me that you're not just a product of my fantasy.
I do not accept phrases such as "I think, therefor I am" or anything that starts with "if you can read this...". Make it hard and fast evidence.

***

Talking about A Beautiful Mind: That's one of the very few movies that almost made me cry. The moment when all these people come out of nowhere to place their pen on the table right in front of John? That was really touching.