Here's a question to ponder when you have free time: would a believer in/practitioner of metaphysical solipsism (one who thinks the external world and other people and minds do not really exist) be inherently selfish? Would they be bad at teaching or parenting?
Thank you for the question, metaphysical solipsism is so fascinating, this stuff is my jam :)
I’ll start by saying that I don’t believe in metaphysical solipsism (I think we all have the same level of reality, what that level of reality is is another matter ehe...) but I’d be lying if I said I’ve never considered it. (I also believe humans aren’t really capable of fully grasping that other people have the same inner complexity as ourselves, but maybe that’s just me.)
I think the thing is that “/” you’ve put between “believer in” and “practitioner”. Can one really act upon their (rational) belief in metaphysical solipsism? Human beings aren’t just rationality, and I think that those kinds of belief can’t really translate to the emotional sphere of the person (of course unless it crosses with other kinds of things that determine our emotional approach to others).
Basically, I don’t think that, even if you believe other people do not have a reality of their own, you still behave towards them as if you were to assume they have the same level of reality as you. You think on a rational level they don’t have the same level of existence as you, but you feel they’re real, just like you.
I’m pretty sure there is some technical expression to indicate this “fracture” between rational thinking and emotional approach to others, but I can’t recall it right now :3
(To be honest I don’t actually believe in the radical dichotomy between rationality and irrationality, but I’ll use these terms for simplicity.)
So no, I don’t think they’d be selfish or bad at having emotional connections to others specifically for believing in solipsism, because their non-rational part would make them act as if metaphysical solipsism weren’t true.
At least those are my two cents on the matter :)