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I think that Dickinson had a great point.  Everything around us is an invention of the brain.  That’s not to say that my perception of an apple is any different from your perception of the same apple. It is red with some patches of yellow, somewhat spherical, and has a stem on the top.  We are both human and are both wired to ‘see’ the apple in the same way—our eyes see the same red, our hands feel the same smoothness of the skin. Perhaps that apple was grown in Minnesota; I’m from Minnesota so that adds another connection for me.  But it is still my brain that is making the link between the time I lived in Minnesota and the apple, not some outside mind.  My perception of something makes it real to me, and my other experiences—stored in my brain—give perception more meaning.Just because our world springs from our brain, that doesn’t mean that there is no such thing as individual thought.  Our source of individuality is different genetic make-up and life experiences.  Through our own development we become individuals.  Nicki brought up the “If a tree falls...” example, and her summary of observations is that if no one is present, the tree will still make a sound. I’m inclined to disagree, if only to be the devil’s advocate.  The trend is that when trees fall in forests, they make noise, but that’s only because we are there to perceive the sound.  Something only happens if it is observed.  You’re walking in the forest and you come across a tree that is no longer upright; the assumption is that it fell because of your summary of past observations.  But who knows, the tree could have gotten in that horizontal position by some phenomena other than falling.Something is real if it is observed.  Not all observations of the same thing are the same.  We are individuals, but only through the perception of our experiences.