one largely untethered from its metanarrative (communism) and instead tethered to a judicious choice of allegiance — Kenosha Kid
In fact, a postmodern culture is an impossibility; it would be utterly unliveable. People are not relativistic when it comes to matters of science, engineering, and technology; rather, they are relativistic and pluralistic in matters of religion and ethics. — William Lane Craig
The parallel here with thinking is that we can try to think what we want to think, but unpleasant thoughts can intrude in spite of our efforts, as is the case with ptsd, depression and anxiety. — Joshs
Yes DK, your arguments are just too devastating, to the point that I had to call in some favors from the moderators to edit your posts, and I can valiantly pretend you didn't crush me with your brilliance.If that makes you feel better, carry on. — skyblack
I don't know what I'm talking about, or really much of anything. Rather than dig myself a deeper hole, I will quit while I'm behind. I apologize for my presumption and arrogance: I'm still learning. With diligence, some day I might be a better and wiser person. — skyblack
But even in saying this much about the choice to think something, we are already presupposing that one is motivated to think a thought. We say that to be voluntary, a thought must come when we want it to come. — Joshs
But then, your post doesn't really state any reasoning or argument — skyblack
this claim."perhaps proved" — skyblack
what we call emotion. is no more or less voluntary than thinking — Joshs
Trying to think of other things that are ontologically parasitic. — fishfry
Both objects and processes exist independently of anything that may or may not perceive them, this is what I meant by "stable reality"But this raises more questions, what has a "stable reality"? — Manuel
I don't have a problem with this.We'd have to say that it is a hallucination within a hallucination or something along these lines. — Manuel
I'm not sure if you are understanding me here. The only requirement is that there is some stable mapping from a sensory constellation to "cliff". But the form that mapping takes is irrelevant. Trivially, my red might be your green. Or my color might be your sound, or it might be some other form you can't conceive of. As long as qualia masks reality in some stable manner, it can take any form at all and be functional.So at some points our mapping converges in some crucial areas. — Manuel
Ok, so being isomorphic with a natural number means being in a system capable of distinguishing at least that specified whole number of different items? — bongo fury
Perhaps there is an additional requirement that you and the rest must be symbols? — bongo fury
You are probably aware that digital data is stored as 1s and 0s. These are interpreted as base-2 numbers, which are just like the familiar base-10, except at every digit only 2 values are possible, instead of 10 So, every file on your computer can be interpreted as an enormous number. In the case of a movie, if it is well compressed and HD the file size might be ~4GB. This is 2^32 base-
2 digits, corresponding to a single base-10 number of around 1.2 billion digits! — hypericin
So your admirable (for me) nominalism, as embraced in paragraphs one thru five (of eight), depends on grammar? — bongo fury
Couldn't it easily have happened that we referred to apples as "apple" (with no article) even while only ever accepting a (any) whole one as answering to the name? — bongo fury
I don't follow this argument. A pictogram is a symbol, and so information, not an apple....Treat an apple as a character in a discrete alphabet (e.g. of fruits) and the analogy is complete... — bongo fury
Would some version of your "informational" exception then not apply? — bongo fury
Why on earth not? — bongo fury
But what is that? — bongo fury
But the information itself could be discovered. Context, and therefore meaning, is not deducible from information. If it was, it would be redundant.Sure. But not if you merely studied, however carefully, the digital or analog recordings themselves (literally, as opposed to the sound-and-light events produced from them). — bongo fury
Considering the screenings, they depend on and are completely reflective of the film reels.the screenings and plays (sound-and-light events) which collectively constitute said artwork — bongo fury
Maybe. But you aren't understanding me.Sorry. Seems like Platonism to me. — bongo fury
Just consider the numbers "13, 13" as they appear on your screen. Are they two different numbers, both classifed as "13"? Or the same number?I don't quite understand the choice of example. — bongo fury
You are probably aware that digital data is stored as 1s and 0s. These are interpreted as base-2 numbers, which are just like the familiar base-10, except at every digit only 2 values are possible, instead of 10 So, every file on your computer can be interpreted as an enormous number. In the case of a movie, if it is well compressed and HD the file size might be ~4GB. This is 2^32 base-I'm lost here. Please help. — bongo fury
So qualitative identity of distinct physical objects is as I see it perfectly easily established, as in the example of distinct tokens of a digital signal, or of a notational text — bongo fury
mystical about information — bongo fury
Information is patterns. Facts. — bongo fury
Why the woo? Why not, here are two different things both classified as "apple"; here are two things both classified as "Wizard of Oz file"? — bongo fury
Two spatially distinct objects cannot be numerically identical, only qualitatively similar (even qualitative identity cannot be established). Two spatially distinct informational "objects" may be numerically the same object.How — bongo fury
But you just pointed out that digital identity of symbols isn't affected by their physical diversity, so... — bongo fury
Incidentally, let's distinguish between The Wizard of Oz the set of its plays or screenings (sound-and-light-events) from The Wizard of Oz the set of its recordings on reel or disk etc. — bongo fury
No. You can divide things into groups on any basis whatsovever. These divisions may be more or less relevant, more or less salient, but thats a far as it can go.An ontological distinction - would you agree? — Wayfarer
Because 'appears' requires a subject, i.e. an agent to whom something appears. Nothing appears to a rock. — Wayfarer
The issue I see with ‘vitalism’ is actually caused by the impossibility of taking the ‘elan vital’ to be an object or an objectively real existent — Wayfarer
That is a very poor argument. Doing things to A affects B does not imply that B 'is' A — Bartricks
Not "A affects B". Rather, changes to A result in changes to B. When this relationship is observed, it provides evidence that either:
* A is B
or
* B is causally connected to A — hypericin
every impression of being immaterial — Bartricks
You have now claimed that material objects cannot interact with immaterial ones. That is absolutely not - not - a tautology. — Bartricks
The linguistic distinction between alive and dead could prove to be questionable. Things are rather neither alive nor dead. — spirit-salamander
To your second sentence: I think that panpsychism need not be associated with vitalism. It is only about the sober and neutral attribution of conscious experience to material entities. — spirit-salamander
The premise you've added to get to the conclusion is that there cannot be causation between different kinds of object. — Bartricks
Both of these "appears" may be in fact be mere appearances.my mind does not appear to be material, yet does appear causally to interact with things quite dissimilar to it - a — Bartricks
and even if it were true, the fact my mind appears immaterial not material would mean you should conclude that the sensible world is mental, not that the mental is material. — Bartricks
I'm asking whence the idea that it can or should be. Is this just rebellion against religion, or is there something else to it? — baker