Hey guys, I just wanted to say that this is a great sub, definitely my favorite sub, but theres just one small thing off about it. People are commonly using the term solipsism incorrectly. This sub is by far the most intelligent group of people I've ever met on the internet, and it seems silly for us to misuse a term so much.

Solipsism is the idea that the only thing that someone can be 100% certain of is that they exist. I think, therefore I am. If i didn't exist, I wouldn't be able to think these thoughts, so I must exist. However, everything else can be an illusion. All of the senses, such as sight and hearing, could all be nothing but illusions. You can't be 100% certain that something exists based on sight, hearing, taste, etc as these could all be perceptual deceptions. Seeing things that aren't really there, hearing noises that aren't actually there, etc.

Quite frequently, people on this sub use the term to mean selfishness, a lack of empathy, etc which is much different from what it really means. It just unnecessarily ruins our credibility to use the term so incorrectly. I understand what exactly people mean when they use the term solipsism and I think we should come up with an original term for it and add it to the glossary. Otherwise, keep up the great work.

Edit: Apparently the second dictionary definition is about selfishness, lack of empathy, etc so maybe its not being misused. However, I can only imagine that the 2nd definition came to exist as a result of many people failing to understand descartes and thus misusing it (in the way this sub does) so much that it was just added as a second official definition, so I stand by this original post. Women are very opposite of the original meaning of solipsism. Women don't doubt their senses, feelings, etc. Throughout all of history, only a very small minority of women have even understood descartes. We should have a new term for it.