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From the day we are born our brain is busy with the process of sensing things, interpreting what we sense, and creating an understanding of the world. We learn to interpret different frequencies of light as "colors", different wavelengths of sounds as "pitches", different sets of information from our mouths as "tastes" and "textures".

We build on this information, learning to recognize "others", piecing together relationships, learning communication.

We learn and learn and learn. We put together a view of the world, our selves, and the proceedings of events in time.

And then somewhere along the way we run into the question "How Do We Know That We Exist?"

Some reject the question outright; "Because I'm here, you're here, so we must exist". Some grasp for faith; "The Bible tells me so". Some explore the question, and come to a pragmatic answer; "Even if this is all an illusion, this illusion is all I've got". Some explore the philosophy and religious thought, and reach other conclusions.

And some dodge the question entirely, exploring "how" we perceive, how we "know", or how we "exist". Though the answers to these questions can be quite lengthy, none of them address the real question. Rather, these answers hide behind a built-up wealth of knowledge that in the end might not be relevant.

TYRANNY OF THE SENSES

Our sole source of information is through our senses. The five senses we've identified and the other proposed senses ("thermoception" or temperature, "nociception" or pain, "equilibrioception" or balance, and "proprioception" or body-awareness)are where we get all our information about the world and ourselves. Reading, conversation, TV, and Internet are all taken in through these basic senses.

Every bit of verification we get for our existence comes through our senses. There's no other way for it to get into our brain.

But what if we can't trust our senses? There are everyday examples that show we cannot. Optical illusions, sleight-of-hand, reverb on recordings to simulate "live" sounds, artificial flavors and aromatics, and electrical stimulation of nerves and the brain, all trick our senses into perceiving things that are not really so. Our senses are very fallible and subject to manipulation.

The things we sense, and the expectations we associate with senses, can override what we experience as reality. Amputees have "phantom limb syndrome", where they still feel the existence of a limb that is gone. An empty house still seems "homey" if it smells like baked goods.

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