answer:I struggled with this question as a child. I finally came up with an answer, and I share it with you for critical opinion. Does our mind make up reality? Am I real? Is the person next to me real? What makes something real? Well, if I can touch it, it is not a figment of my imagination. If I can touch it, it is real. Can I touch myself? I am here. Can I touch the other person? They are there. Is touch all there is to reality? Isn’t sight? Can I see the other person? I can, but what if my eyes are lying to me? What if they are sending information that is false, or made up? Ask the other person what they see. They see what I see, so that seen object must be real. But touch and sight and hearing are all reliant on the brain – are these just perceptions? No, because we both perceive the same thing. When perceptions are common across the masses, they must be real, and real existed before our perceptions. In the end, I am certain that reality comes first. Human perception is an inner thing, not outer. When you send your dog to chase a ball, are you perceiving him chasing the ball? When another human bends down to catch the rolling ball, is he perceiving the ball coming toward him? Were you, the dog, and the other person truly perceiving, or experiencing? It is for this reason I know that reality precedes perception.