For some reason, I find it incredibly difficult to rationalize the idea that other people exist in this world. Now, obviously they do, there are people all around us, but do they truly function when I'm not around? Are they shut off (almost like robots?) that only interact with me when I am in their presence? I feel like I sound like a lunatic, but I just can't seem to make sense of other people having memories and doing things that I haven't experienced first hand.

I don't mean to sound self-centred either. Obviously the other people in the world have experiences that I'm not apart of because i'm merely a speck in the universe. I don't know how else to explain it other than what I have stated previously.

My first real experience with this kind of thinking was when I read a text from my brother to my mother that said my name. I had this irrational spiral about the fact that I have a name and that people know me by this name, and call me by this name. I tried to explain it to my friend, but she didn't understand. I don't blame them. I know how it sounds.

The best and simplest way I can try to explain it is when you repeat or read a word so many times that it loses meaning because you are giving your brain time to truly think about what you're reading or saying.

That's what got me thinking about the reality that the people around me have lives of their own, but without the proof of seeing their day through their eyes, it just doesn't make sense. Like the fact that my brother has his own thought process and lived with me so long that he knew the name I was given at birth.

I would love to know if anyone else has felt this kind of strange realization. I feel stupid to think like this, but I just cannot see to understand the reality, despite knowing that the truth is completely obvious.