What's the meaning of the title?

[megatonante]

"The Talos Principle". I finished the game, but I have still some doubts about this. In some files, I read that the principle refers to when reality destroys fantasy. "Reality is that thing that doesn't go away when you stop thinking about it".

Is there another meaning? What is exactly the "Talos principle"?

[Shadowspawn]

that is pretty much it but the game explains/defines it in one of the many text files you read on the terminal - you DID read them ALL :-)

[Farel]

I'm only halfway through the game, so my answer might be a bit less informative than someone else's, but I already found like two text files, that basically said "The Talos Principle is ...", so it might still be helpful.

From what I got so far, the Talos Principle is the idea, that artificial life or a robot could do all the things humans can do and that therefor humans basically are machines.
The name is apparently derived from Talos, a giant from Greek (?) mythology, whose body was made from metal, but who still had a blood-like fluid that he needed to live. And since he couldn't live without this fluid (just like humans can't live without their blood) and since he was basically able to talk, act and choose like a human could do, there was the question if there really is a difference between a "real" human and an artificial one.

One file also said, that the core concept of the principle was summed up with the sentence "Even the greatest philosophers can't live without their blood". I think it was mentioned, that this sentence is a critique of other, more metaphysical or spiritual philosophies, which assumed, that humans are something greater than just matter and have a "soul" or something similar.

[Stupendous Man]

Megetonante, the quote you are referring to is "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away", which is from "How to build a universe that doesn't fall apart two days later" by Philip K. ♥♥♥♥, and doesn't have anything to do with the Talos Principle directly. As Farel says, the principle basically says that the philosopher is a machine too, and isn't some "external observer" to his philosophy. At least, that is my understanding of it (which is probably quite flawed).

[foma84]

The way I got this is that anything needs a body to be considered alive. The AIs in the game exist only in a virtual world. And until reaching the top of the tower, the main character too exists only in this virtual world. Only after that it gets a body (called "SOMA/TALOS") and until that point it is only being "selected".
It also means that humans don't/can't exist as reason alone, a body is costituive of our being human.

You can punch holes in my resoning if you like you Milton, you.

[megatonante]

I think Farel said the most "correct" interpretation. I had forgotten that file that talks about Talos, but I actually read it.

Stupendous Man: I had found that quote interesting because it bascially says that you must come to terms with reality, no matter what. Much like a philosopher still needs to have blood and can't live of metaphysics alone. much like the Talos contruct can't live without his blood. Maybe it refers to the game itself, since the player needs to break free from the "training grounds" of the simulation and be born into reality.

foma84 too said something important because it relates directly to the ending of the game.

Maybe the meaning is manifold: every conscious being, may it be organic or mechanical, needs a "mind" and a "body" and can't "live" without any of them. At the end of the game, life merely changes form, from organic to mechanical, but it will still be life. Maybe an evolution of the biological life, since the pinnacle of human evolution could very well be the building of IAs and robots.

[C♥@cH El]

Yes, Farel had shown the most correct answer. Talos was the automaton created by Hephaestus to guard Crete. The game's Garden.
Only Ascension ending defy this.
Talos relate closely to telos philosophy by Aristotle, anything has a purpose in their life. Even AI, thence Cybernetics follow closely to teleology.