Pretty much of what we know around us, we cannot prove that it exists. For instance, a table as we know it is just but a mentality we have in our mind of how a table looks. We tend to associate anything we meet with our experience. There is, therefore, a possibility that the mind is the only thing that exists and even if there is a world outside the mind; it is unlike what I believe it to be.

There is this thing that continually questions. Probably most of us have asked ourselves many questions about life such as who am I? Where did I come from? What is my purpose in life? What will happen when I die? These questions and many more are evidence that there exists something that comes up with them. This thing is the mind. It is quite false to think that this is not the case as it can be presumed that there is no deity and no bliss that no bodies exist. However, we cannot assume that those who have such feelings are not anything. The moment when I am thinking, I don’t exist-that is self-contradictory . If the mind does not exist, we cannot be able to question or doubt.

I cannot confirm that whatever thing outside my mind is real. There are no tests that can be done to ascertain the existence of anything in life. While I can prove that I exist, this does not extent to the outside world. I know that I exist because I can doubt, I can believe, and I can question. I consider the world outside me to be a thought. Whatever we consider as a fact or truth is just a thought in mind. If one argues that a tree exists because he/she sees it, what if he/she closed her eyes, or can a blind person say the same? A tree, a table or any object is a notion planted in the mind. We know that anything that barks is a dog. That is what we are taught when growing up. We, therefore, formed this mentality of a dog in the mind. When we see one, what we do is to retrieve its ‘image’ or characteristics from memory. If it is a match, then we conclude that it is a dog. This extends to every other object. We have a database in our minds of these things and we keep referring to them every day. We cannot provide concrete proof that they do exist. If we cannot prove that they exist, then they do not exist.

In addition, we term something to be true or correct if it conforms to our experience. Truth cannot be termed as a thing. Our judgment is based on our own past experiences plus the collective experience of other people. These experiences are, in my opinion, what we call the norm. This extends to how we describe things in life such as heaviness, speed, beauty, sexiness, hot, et cetera. These are descriptions of one’s own experience. They are not uniform to everybody. For example, prettiness is relative and a matter of debate. How sweet a chocolate is, it is also not uniform to all. Our perceptions on things in life are not the same. How then can we, therefore, say something is and exist, yet we have different and varied way of its perception?

In conclusion, we can debate about everything we know in life, its characteristics and even question its existence. There is no concrete proof we can give to the existence of any of these things in life. However, our perceptions and judgments, our questions and doubts can all be attributed to the existence of the mind. Without the mind, none of this could be possible.