Sudden realisation of existence

[Lozzer]

Wow, it's pretty awesome, particularly when it occurs. It's sounds so silly, but occasionally, and more occasionally then I'd like, I have epiphanies about the complexities of living biology, the expanse of space and the perplexity of time. I absorb so much in a small moment, I am left in an ecstatic 'moment of realisation'. Usually it's initiated by a science book, something on philosophy or just pure introspection. I suppose it could be described as 'spiritualist', though I know it's completely secular and without 'divine' interference. Does this ever happen to anyone else?

[Millefleur]

Yup. Normally when having a particularly shitty time and stepping outside for a breath of fresh cigarette, in those moments of acute loneliness the world seems such a vast and exciting place.

[FBM]

a) No.

b) You're going to die, just like the rest of us.

c) Nice avatar.

[PsychoSerenity]

Yeah, but I think it's actually not so special, a bit like deja-vu. It's the experience of finding something particularly profound - but it could be connected to anything. I think I spend a greater than average time in dream-worlds, fantasies, stories, much of my thought process is telling stories to myself, and as a result I sometimes get the sudden realisation feeling with the thought "OMG this is real" - but if you say that out loud people think you're weird.

[mistermack]

Maybe I'm a pessimist. I'm more likely to get a "sudden realisation that nothing will last " and that what we are all doing is incredibly pointless, from a long-term point of view. It all has a point in the short term. And that's it.

What interest is it to me, if some of my genes survive, or make it to another planet one day? Nil.
Sorry to rain on the campfire, but if I ever had an "I exist" moment, it would be quickly followed with "for now".

[hiyymer]

but if I ever had an "I exist" moment, it would be quickly followed with "for now".

I didn't hear him say it was an "I exist" moment. More like an "ain't it amazing" moment.

[Tero]

With me, it's usually my foot that hurts a bit after a long day. I have to align my spirit with my foot's spirit.

[Robert_S]

I love those moments, though sometimes they are a little frightening. That my body is here at this moment, in this place, in this state as a result of so many complex causes stretching back over unimaginably vast distances of space and time. That space and time exist, that my body produces this consciousness, that I seemingly have free will as a result of things I had nothing to do with, that there are others like me... it sometimes just blows my mind, especially when I'm stone cold sober and alert with nothing pressing to do.

I've heard it called "existential astonishment"


It's kinda like the Galaxy Song from Monte Python's The Meaning of Life, I'm stunned by the weirdness of it all and have to watch out someone doesn't use the opportunity to make off with my liver while I'm appreciating it.

[mistermack]

but if I ever had an "I exist" moment, it would be quickly followed with "for now".

I didn't hear him say it was an "I exist" moment. More like an "ain't it amazing" moment.

The clue is in the title.

[Toontown]

Has anyone ever had an "I don't exist" moment?

I've never had one of those, but I do sometimes find it odd - suspicious even - that, even though my life is but an infinitesimally brief flicker in the midst of eternity, it nevertheless always seems to be happening. Something ain't quite right about that. We're supposed to be spending damn near all of eternity not-existing...right? So why hasn't my infinitesimally short flicker of existence already come and gone a long, long time ago?

[JimC]

Once, in the 70's, after dropping a tab, I too realised that I truly existed...

Luckily, I put it down to a bad trip, and carried on in the normal state of any hominid...

[hiyymer]

I had an epiphany the day I realized that my body exists, but I am just a bad joke that its brain is playing on me.

[stripes4]

I had an epiphany the day I realized that my body exists, but I am just a bad joke that its brain is playing on me.

I have a regular epiphany that my brain doesn't exist. I'm not altogether sure how accurate it is

[Hermit]

but if I ever had an "I exist" moment, it would be quickly followed with "for now".

I didn't hear him say it was an "I exist" moment. More like an "ain't it amazing" moment.

The clue is in the title.

Projecting a bit, methinks. Also, you should actually read the opening post in addition to reading the title.

I get awestruck by the (to me) unimaginable size of the universe every time I look at the night sky, the sheer improbability that things are just the way they are, and every time I see a nature documentary, I am struck by the variety of life forms and behaviours that evolution has unintentionally brought about, and I love that feeling of being awestruck.