I am trying to find (hopefully online)a philosophical argument supposedly included in Philosophy tests referred to as "The Braino Cap" argument. I was told it was aprox 5 pages, & in a nutshell postulates that since our experience of the "outside world" is a function of our sensorial surfaces, & since our sensorial input is channeled through the hypothalamus, then it's conceivable that though we may think we're playing ping-pong, we are actually sitting in chairs with braino caps on our heads pumping impulses through our hypothalumi to provide the illusion of playing ping-pong. Do you know where I can find this argument? Thanks SO MUCH if you can help me.....Debby

-- Debby Williams (DebbyITS@aol.com), August 21, 2004

Answers

Debby

This seems to have something to do with the brain caps that are part of virtual reality games, and some neuropsychological research. If you Google the phrase "brain cap" you'll see various entries relevant to that. I've searched in a variety of ways to see if I can find anything online about your question. It does seem to be like the older philosophical question of whether reality is merely something we project "out there"--it's obviously a question of ontology/metaphysics, in modern dress.

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@cox.net), September 01, 2004.