i just came up with this tonight, so let me know what you think. it takes me a long time to come up with a statement that i can agree to be true, but i did tonight, so i'm pretty stoked. yeah...

1. reality = the totality of all things real.

2. in order to be real, a thing must have verifiable existence.

3. in order for its existence to be verified, a thing must be perceived.

4. according to 2. and 3., a thing must be perceived in order to be real.

5. therefore, reality = the sum of all things perceived.

I used a dictionary when I was first starting, but only to help clarify, because I believe that connotative definitions are more important here than lexical or even stipulative ones. I don't want this to turn into a meaningless "definition game", but I do try to remain as objective and consistent as possible with my definitions.

i guess it seems weird for me to say i'm being objective when this such a relativist statement to make, but i think you know what i mean. i'm not talking about normative ethics here, folks.