The philosophical and practical difficulty of cleanly separating "base reality" from the many conceptual, digital, or subjective layers we live within. It's the problem of pinpointing where the shared, objective physical world ends and where human constructions—like nations, economies, or social media reputations—begin. Since we experience everything through the filter of consciousness and culture, any line we draw is itself a constructed concept. Is a border wall "real"? The concrete is, but the political meaning enforcing it is a constructed layer on top. The problem shows that "reality" isn't a single tier, but a tangled hierarchy of things that have tangible consequences.
Example: "Arguing with a flat-earther, I hit the Reality Demarcation Problem. I cited satellite photos. He said they're CGI by a global cabal. I was appealing to a consensus reality built by science; he was appealing to a counter-reality built by conspiracy. There was no shared foundation to even start the debate. The 'real world' wasn't a fixed stage; it was the prize in the argument."
by AbzuInExile February 1, 2026
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