Here's a brief sample of personal opinions from individual scientists saying that Energy is the fundamental principle of the universe*2. — Gnomon

As a starter, please explain, in your own words, what you think the Enformationism Thesis is all about. With that information, I may be able to see why you say "enformationism is not gonna cut it". What do you think Enformationism is trying to "cut"? Do you view it as a "new scientific paradigm", or a "disguised theological premise", or what? — Gnomon

Information theory is the mathematical study of the quantification, storage, and communication of information. — Wiki

The key insight is that Information is essentially a form of (physical but not material) Energy (negentropy), which is able to transform into Mass, which we experience as Matter. Thesis & blog provide technical references. — Gnomon

Oh. I took that to be the meaning of the 'smallest unit', which is typically considered the atom. — Wayfarer

Parmenides was a mystic. He had more in common with the Vedic sages than with moderns. — Wayfarer

I guess you haven't been paying attention. If you really care to know, just peruse the few posts below of exchanges with Gnomon where, after hundreds of previous exchanges with him over the last few years, he had finally copped to his own crypto-"Panendeism"-of-the-gaps sophistry. :mask: — 180 Proof

Therefore, I wrote down my personal interpretation of the philosophical implications of 20th century Quantum Physics & Information Theory under the heading of Enformationism. The “-ism” ending was intended to posit a 21st century worldview, to supersede the outdated ancient philosophies of Materialism (Atomism) and Spiritualism (supernaturalism)*3. The key insight is that Information is essentially a form of (physical but not material) Energy (negentropy), which is able to transform into Mass, which we experience as Matter. — Gnomon

That was Democritus and Leucippus, the atomists. Parmenides was not an atomist. — Wayfarer

The 'Truth' section of the poem concludes with a recapitulatory metaphor: being is like a well-rounded sphere equal from every side; it is not right for it to be any bigger or any smaller anywhere, since nothingness cannot prevent it from reaching uniformity, and, since there is nothing in its own nature which would cause it to be asymmetrical, it rests evenly within its bounds…

The Parmenidean version of ultimate reality is thus one from which all
' distinction, difference, change, and plurality have been excluded, yet one which, in accordance with the Greek horror of the infinite, preserves its definiteness so that it can also be the truth, the implicit and single object of all language. Parmenides is thus the ' first metaphysician (or, if you prefer, theologian) to argue for those eternal attributes also shared by Plato's forms, by Aristotle's primary movers, and by their descendants in the history of philosophy. This picture of the truth as a single, abiding whole is next contrasted by the goddess with the picture to which the mortals subscribe. — Scott Austin

Although the mental/ideal Metaphysics I want to talk about is entirely secular & scientific, it is typically dismissed as a religious & irrational topic. So, I end-up spending most of my time denying that I'm talking about emotion-driven religious doctrines. That should be obvious though, since all of my quotes & links are to professional scientists & philosophers ; not to anti-science apologists. Yet the prejudice against Metaphysics keeps me on my back foot in non-physical topical threads. And attempts, such as this, to set the record straight are often dismissed as "whining". — Gnomon

I just want to talk about non-physical topics without being labeled a traitor to the received belief system of Materialism. I have replied to accusations of anti-science motives, by asserting that, for practical purposes, I am a Materialist ; but for theoretical reasons, I am a Metaphysicalist. :smile: — Gnomon

By "non-physical" I include all Theories & Conjectures & Models & Metaphors used by scientists and philosophers to describe abstract concepts that have been de-fleshed of any material substance, with only a skeleton of logic remaining. — Gnomon

Therefore, by "scientific Metaphysics" I simply refer to such "weird" quantum notions as Superposition/Entanglement, and shape-shifting Information in both mental & material forms. — Gnomon

Does your one word response mean that "metaphysics" is irrevocably tainted by its association with Christian theology? — Gnomon

That's why I have proposed a modern meaning for the term, spelled "Meta-Physics", and defined as the science of the non-physical. By "non-physical" I include all Theories & Conjectures & Models & Metaphors used by scientists and philosophers to describe abstract concepts that have been de-fleshed of any material substance, with only a skeleton of logic remaining. — Gnomon

Does any of that make sense to you? — Gnomon

I'll be more sure to write with exacting precision — Benj96

Those that take don't take antibiotics kill themselves faster. — Benj96

Bacteria are stressed by the presence antibiotics. Humans are not or far less stressed by the presence of antibiotics. — Benj96

apkky — Benj96

If all conditions were inherently stressors, then life would not exist because it would be stressed into oblivion. — Benj96

According to who? Trees undergo stress like we do. The stressors may not be the same. But a tree can experience detriment to it's growth potential. — Benj96

This is how the mind protects DNA. And how DNA protects the order that confers a healthy mind. — Benj96

The claim in the OP isn't that behavior can cause damaging genetic changes that cause disease. It is that human behavior can cause positive genetic changes that will increase life expectancy. It mostly talks about the general affects of ageing not genetic causes of disease. It also claims "...there is a direct link between the mind and DNA." — T Clark

And how might he go about stopping her reign of influence over his bad days? — Benj96

By making amends for his originals wrongdoing. An apology is not enough; she also demanded that he confess. If he's done that, he's already in prison, unless the authorities either didn't take him seriously or decided to let him off. Which might be sufficient for the 'witch', but not for his conscience. He doesn't just need to be be freed; he needs to feel free. He needs to do something positive to restore karmic balance. — Vera Mont

Bad things will still happen to Jeremiah since she was bluffing.
And then Jeremiah will hold her responsible. — TheMadMan

To answer correctly, sleeping beauty must evaluate the probability she is experiencing each of these events. — hypericin

I was surprised by how high the percentages are. — T Clark

Do you see that as evidence that people aren't interested in political issues. It seems just the opposite to me. — T Clark

They ask her one question after each time she awakens, however: What is the probability that the coin shows heads?

I agree, and I think this situation has emerged due to the continuous disappointments on politics and all what is related to governance, political theory, etc... I mean: it is not a generational issue but a dysfunctional praxis. — javi2541997

I'm not saying you are wrong, but how do you know this is true? Does this hinge upon what 'have an interest' means? — Tom Storm

So yeah, if the youth are into self governance, self discipline and not following some fanatics or fanatic ideology, a superior nation will emerge. — Beena

Too many people are failing in life and too many are serious nut cases and too many are willing to make money any way they can without concern about the harm done to others. On top of that, we are destroying our democracy as all our institutions are failing. — Athena

1963. There was turmoil all around, with the Klan playing the crowds. At one point there was an explosion, which someone said was one of the confederate canons at the ROTC building going off. One of the civil rights demonstrators yelled, "I hope they hit the bastard this time!" (meaning Wallace). — jgill

I was expecting a philosophical not a biological answer (eg a definition of what memory means to some philosophers). — GrahamJ

I knew about the enteric nervous system (though I'd forgotten the name). If it records some information, and later uses that information to make a decision, I would call that memory, or even a 'mental record'. — GrahamJ

It means retrieving the information from memory. Mind you, bodily functions such as hunger is not memory based, nor the bowel movement ( I will explain it for those uninitiated, upon request). — L'éléphant
Yes please. — GrahamJ

He's not advancing a wild argument that is indefensible but more like he grew up knowing one thing and seeing another needs to adjust. Spending 70 years of your life knowing one thing and then having to change course is hard but he's not making any wild claims. — Darkneos

Two women replied, calling me misogynistic and demeaning, and referring to me as "puffing on a corncob pipe through withered lips" and avoiding the civil and women's rights movements in the 1960s. To which I replied I was on campus and had demonstrated against George Wallace as he stood in the doorway to the admissions office at the U of Alabama, denying entrance to a black man, and that, actually, I had joined the women's lib movement during that decade. — jgill

There is no irrefragable piece of knowledge that founds any thought system - not even the cogito. If this approach involves an act of performative self-refutation, or engenders a regress problem, that only seems to further suggest the inability to obtain a foundational justification. Thoughts? — Tom Storm

Is there a difference for you between presuppositions and foundationalism? — Tom Storm

But to have an organized anti-system is to have a system, right? — Tom Storm

Which is why I usually say I hold that human thought is paradoxical and that much of what we call reality is human projection based on our limited perspective. From this 'dimly lit' vantage point I generally hold that I (or any of us) don't have enough information or wisdom to make reliable judgements about the nature of reality. — Tom Storm

If you disagree that the article proposes a solution to the hard problem, then what would you say the article is about? — Luke

Let’s imagine, however, that as the animal’s life becomes more complex, it reaches a stage where it would benefit from retaining some kind of ‘mental record’ of what’s affecting it: a representation of the stimulus that can serve as a basis for planning and decision-making.

I believe the upshot – in the line of animals that led to humans and others that experience things as we do – has been the creation of a very special kind of attractor, which the subject reads as a sensation with the unaccountable feel of phenomenal qualia.

And, I suggest, this development is game-changing. Crucially, it means the activity can be drawn out in time, so as to create the ‘thick moment’ of sensation (see Figure 2c above). But, more than that, the activity can be channelled and stabilised, so as to create a mathematically complex attractor state – a dynamic pattern of activity that recreates itself.

What discussion title would you have used instead? — Luke

We only back off of it when it gets problematic for us. — frank

If you were told that no matter how hard you tried, you will never ever reach perfection, that flaw is proverbially "a neccesary evil", that perfection and imperfection are a mutually dependent dynamic.

How would it make you feel? — Benj96

But at the same time, morality does seem to revolve around what most people think is appropriate behaviour - community standards, etc. What — Tom Storm