Real People Theory

OK, so this next blog is a bit on the abstract, but related to a quote from Bob a couple years back:

"identity is people's perception of you".

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The "REAL PEOPLE THEORY" was a concept that Mike Brown, Mike Maes, and I came up with back in college (during one of our late-night sessions in the "fishbowl"). In the past 15 years I've been trying to disprove it ... so far, no luck. The THEORY is very simple:

• Unless you've met someone through 2 independant sources, they're just a figment of your imagination.

So here's an example ...

Many of the people you work with are imaginary. One person (call her Sally) may introduce you to another (call him Joe), who you've already met (say, at the coffee machine). While Sally is still imaginary, Joe now becomes 'real'.

However, sequence is important. If you'd first met Joe through Sally, then saw him again at the cofee machine, it's not considered an independant source, and Joe remains 'imaginary'.

So, one might ask "did Sally have to be real for this to work". The answer is No, it's possible for two different real or imaginary people to independantly introduce you to a third, and the third becomes real without the others becoming real.

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Before you ask, Yes, I took lots of Philosophy in college, but No, was not my major.