Write your definition for “things” and that’ll answer your question for you.
The atoms are there for sure, but we could argue, whether it is a thing/object without an animal being aware of it, since it’s us that define things to be objects.
The universe doesn’t care whether a pile of atoms behind Pluto happens to be chair-shaped. It’s only when we look at it, that we declare it an object.
Your question is a lot like this thought experiment:
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
Whatever your answer is to the above text can be applied to your question.
No, things outside the player’s field of view are unloaded to save memory, obviously.
If that’s the case, would things outside our field of view still have an effect on us? And to what extent?
did neptune exist before somebody looked at it?
Animals are sometimes declared ‘extinct’ (no one is aware of any living examples) while they still exist (sometimes for decades).
Until 1967, noone was aware of the existence of gamma-ray bursts, the result of the biggest explosions in the universe. The bursts were only visible to specialized satellites.
Right now, people are suffering from diseases caused by unknown viruses.
Yes, they necessarily do.
People were dying en-masse because you had doctors not washing their hands when moving from autopsies to giving birth.
No one was aware about the germs that are causing this. It still killed people.
This is true for most of the early medicine/illneses/hygiene, this was just an example I remember. Especially in regards to germs and bacteries, the humanity wasn’t even close to getting it right.
Perhaps I just confabulated all that, and your comment. Perhaps in the process, I manifested the history therein described.
Object permanence is technically an axiom. The idea that things exist even when we aren’t observing them.
There’s also a problem with terms, particularly related to quantum mechanics. It uses the term observer. To a layman, that’s a person watching. To a scientist its any collection of atoms/fundamental particles that can cause the quantum waveform to collapse.
The results of the axiom are that things do exist when we are not observing them. Our observations don’t back propagate to retroactively bring them into existence. We can’t prove that however, though it’s fundamental to a lot of science making sense (quantum mechanics being the oddball).
Does the concept of an axiom actually exist and make sense in physics? I thought we just had models.
One of the goals is to minimise them. Most of those left are blindingly obvious, but unprovable. They are technically there, but just part of the base assumptions of the models.
E.g. we couldn’t do science if an all powerful being was deliberately messing with our results. We also can’t prove the universe isn’t a computer program, only rendering what a “conscious” entity is looking at, while back calculating the required history on the fly.
Well I exist, despite it seeming that no one else in the world is aware of my existence.
You’re ruining it.
Bacteria and viruses existed for billions of years before humans ever existed and the majority of the time since. Dinosaurs existed before we were aware of them. Lots of things have.
This isn’t a very well thought out Shower Thought
That’s what you think, but as soon as I leave this comment thread and become unaware of it, I’m sorry to say, but you will stop existing. Tough luck.
Dinosaurs have conscious awareness. They were “anyone”. Some evidence suggests that consciousness is a fundamentally intra-cellular process that became inter-cellular, and that even the simplest organisms exploit some form of consciousness.
Obviously, yes. But now the question is, can you be aware of things that don’t exist?
As fiction exists but describes things that may not exist, I think the answer is also yes.
Maybe we’re not aware of a non-existent thing itself, but of an idea or perception in our minds.
Actually this is the right answer, and doesn’t deserve the downvotes.
How does this differ from having an idea or perception in our minds about existing things?
purely imaginary things exist only in the mind.
But are we aware of existing things in themselves, apart from the idea and perception in our minds?
Technically they exist.
But do they exist for you if you don’t even think of them? Theological/ philosophycal views might say no.
Tho you can still be affected by unkown therefore “non-existent” things.
Nowadays I call “tap to pay” magic. I know the very basic things to go in there - but I couldn’t recreate it. Thos is kinda the same tone as your question.Yes, my one man black metal project exists and no one knows about it. 🥺
One man black metal? Must be fuckin excellent!
I can’t believe it’s you! Your one-man black metal project changed my life!
Of course. I think there are many things that we haven’t detected because we lack the instruments or even the concept they exist
Humans are constantly discovering life on Earth in places it was thought impossible, like deep underground or in very hot water around volcanic vents.
Certain cancers (HPV, EBV, HBV) have been discovered to be caused by viruses, not just randomly out of control cell replication.
IMO even astronomers suffer from short-sightedness. They tend to classify things in terms of our own little solar system when actually with billions of stars and trillions of planets there are likely very many astronomical objects and phenomenon that we have never observed or thought of.
