Three possibilities come to mind:

Is there an evolutionary purpose?

Does it arise as a consequence of our mental activities, a sort of side effect of our thinking?

Is it given a priori (something we have to think in order to think at all)?

EDIT: Thanks for all the responses! Just one thing I saw come up a few times I’d like to address: a lot of people are asking ‘Why assume this?’ The answer is: it’s purely rhetorical! That said, I’m happy with a well thought-out ‘I dispute the premiss’ answer.

  • Delta_V@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    6 months ago

    On a sufficiently large billiards table, it does become hard to prove that some balls don’t spontaneously sink themselves.

    • makyo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      6 months ago

      That is a clever point but I think it also overly simplifies the nature of reality to such a point that it’s not likely to change any minds.