+309 How do you know something actually exists if you've never seen it? How do you know that everything that has been told to you that you just assume is true isn't really a lie. I have never seen North Dakota, nor do I know anyone from North Dakota, therefore, by this logic, North Dakota does not exist, amirite?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Stop it you're freaking me out!

by Anonymous 13 years ago

My best friend used this argument against his dad regarding Australia...and he won. I love it.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Everyone knows "North Dakota" doesn't exist. Just like "Idaho".

by Anonymous 13 years ago

You can believe it because people HAVE been there and seen it, and anytime you'd like to do so all you'd have to do would be book a flight and go there, and it WOULD be there. With God all you can do is hope, and there is no one who has seen him who can prove his existence.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

But perhaps where ever you went to wasn't actually North Dakota and everyone is just lying to you...

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Nothing is ACTUALLY North Dakota, it's all Earth. You went to the specific area humans call by Dakota, because you bought a ticket for a plane to fly people to that specific location on the globe. Unless there is a debated another name for that area, then it's really North Dakota.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How do we know everyone who ever speaks of North Dakota isn't a liar? I mean, people say they've been there, people say it exists, but people say the same thing about heaven.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

That's exactly what I'm going against. In my first comment I spoke specifically of God and how this is the opposite of belief in him. There are many people who cannot just choose to lie about something this grand, like map makers and explorers and whatnot, so they're a pretty reliable source. Even if you're so skeptical so as not to believe that state exists and everyone lied, you might as well just believe in your own town/home/street and nothing else -- you don't need to believe, you just have to agree with it if ever you need to work with the idea. I bet many people who draw religious books and build churches and all that, aren't even religious! You could be atheist and do anything a religious person could do, after all there isn't a thought police.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Hm, alright you have a valid point.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

:)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This is true and it's the very reason the media holds as much power as it does.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Actually, according to that logic North Dakota could be real but then again it might not be.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Doubting the truth of a statement does not make it's opposite true. That's some pretty messed up logic.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Although it has been scientifically proven that it exists.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

aah! i've been trying to convince people that ND doesn't exist for three years :)

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Technically it does exist, but it doesn't. There isn't a label on the land saying "North Dakota" nor are there physical borders that set it apart from the other land. It's an idea that only exists as long as humans do or allow it to. This goes for all countries, states, provinces, territories, etc. In the human world it exists, but in the natural world, North Dakota doesn't exist.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

It does exist, since it is an idea. North Dakota is the idea of that specific area of land being called North Dakota, and saying it exists is saying the idea exists.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This is where the "I think therefore I am" logic comes into play. Just because you can see something and touch something doesn't mean it exists. The entire universe could just be a place your mind created and there is no past but only what you have written as past in your subconsious mind. You can't prove that another person exists because you can't prove they have a mind and think like you do.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

This kind of stuff always makes my head hurt. It always makes me think that everything that I have been told is a lie. And whenever talking about how big space is...its crazy. Like, why am I here and what's my purpose?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Me too. Its fun but scary to think about sometimes. And sometimes I think that there could be universes the size of an atom in our world, and our universe is the size of an atom to something else. Its sooo crazy and mind boggling.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Wow I was expecting one of these comments to be 'I live in North Dakota' .. its true

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I live in North Dakota, bitch

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Guys the point of this post is not about North Dakota existing or not existing. The point is to get an interesting conversation going about whether or not anything we just assume to exist is real.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

If there may or may not be a North Dakota, is there a definite South Dakota?

by Anonymous 13 years ago

I read this on MLIA.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

thats awesome :) where is it? i usually dont go on MLIA send me the link

by Anonymous 13 years ago

(singergirl):It was a while ago, I don't know if I can find it

by Anonymous 13 years ago

its ok. I think its pretty awesome that this made it to MLIA. Even if i don't personally like MLIA, its nice to know that some so called "average people" like this post

by Anonymous 13 years ago

How can you prove that what you DO see is really there? Say there's a pen on the table in front of you, you can't really prove it's there, as far as you know, it might be an illusion caused by brain damage from an accident you had last month, or that there are aliens manipulating with you brain. Trying to argue on whether some things do or do not exist could go on for ages. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to simply eat a sandwich rather than arguing if it's really there or not.

by Anonymous 13 years ago

i am from North Dakota too.....

by Anonymous 13 years ago

Are you sure ?

by Anonymous 13 years ago