i understand and agree what you're saying about reality basically being justified if it's experienced by one person. i was not clear about my description, so let me try to be more specific.

this is only an example among many, and this did indeed happen to me. i was on the 3rd floor of my nursing home building where i work. i was talking with the oncoming nurse when out of the corner of my eye, i saw something. i looked, and it was a little girl in a short dress who said hi to me. before i could think, i said, hi back. the nurse then asked me who i was talking to, and i played it off as no big deal because the split second the girl disappeared, I realized i was hallucinating.

yes, in that instant, the girl was real to me, but only to me. that doesn't necessarily make it so. a slew of other people never would've seen that girl. so what i mean by reality is the general consensus of what is real. if ten people see a garden, but 1 person sees a unicorn in the garden, chances are the other 9 people will accept the unicorn as a fantasy of a diseased or disordered mind (or maybe someone who's just overly creative).

this is what i meant when i mentioned reality. not a personal reality, but the general consensus of what is accepted as real.

thanks for your input though, i wholly understood what you meant, and believe that a personal reality should not be discounted or looked down upon. you're exactly right. a hallucination is real. a complex fantasy is real. albeit on a personal level. this is a good and interesting conversation.

i believe, however, i am more confused than when i started. you got me thinking now, which isn't altogether a bad thing.