Egad! I've never met anyone who could control light with his or her thoughts before. You must be barrels of fun at parties! — Pantagruel

Egad! Who here has mentioned here controlling light with their thoughts or are you a mind reader?

"I believe I understand it" and "I don't understand it." This is binary. There is no gradation. — god must be atheist

There is gradation.

The degree to which you understand how a the engine of a motor vehicle works. That can be from knowing how to drive it to being able to repair it. They are all degrees of knowledge from the simple to the complex.

Would you not consider your ability to direct your own thoughts to be indicative of a high degree of control over consciousness? — Pantagruel

Our ability to control our thoughts is vastly inferior to our ability to control light.

After millennia of philosophy it seems we have only arrived at one absolute truth:

Something exists. — leo

Okay I grant you that: To have this discussion, something has to exist. That is an absolute truth. Not that this truth is in any way enlightening and does not require any philosophical insight, just everyday 'common sense'.

Furthermore we can state: Everything is either an hallucination, as in the Matrix or there is indeed a tangible reality outside of our consciousness. And I don't think we will ever solve that little conundrum.

Dualistic thinking is the cause of many of the problems of philosophy. — Harry Hindu

Dualistic thinking is the solution to most problems. Most (everyday/philosophical) problems are dualistic by nature.

No, reason is the effort of linking justifications to beliefs. — Harry Hindu

I would have accepted: 'reason is the effort to justify our beliefs' and that would not have precluded 'reason is the effort to express 'reality' in words and numbers'.

Reason does not assert, require, demand, bid, favour, or value

is 'false'. — Bartricks

Reason is the effort to express 'reality' in words and numbers.

Nothing is 'the truth'. Everything is contains a degree of truth.

Our knowledge evolves from the simple to the complex.

Simple is what you believe you understand. Complex is what you still do not understand.

We have more understanding over the properties of light than consciousness.

We have far more control over light than we have over consciousness.

one absolute truth:

Something exists. — leo

Absolute truth does not exist. If you are looking for absolute truth I would suggest you join a religion. There are plenty of them.

https://singjupost.com/stoicism-as-a-philosophy-for-an-ordinary-life-massimo-pigliucci-transcript/

I think the thrust of his argument can be basically summarize as rational vs irrational fear. To fear that which is beyond our control is irrational and self-defeating. We should concentrate only on what is within our control. These are the only fears we should be concerned about.
Having lunch, not dying.

1 is it good for me?
— ovdtogt

And how do you know what is 'good' for you ? — Amity

Having started off as a truly miserable 'git' in life I am now reasonably comfortable and content with my existence. For me that is 'proof' that the 'choices' I have made were 'good' for me.
It only becomes apparent if you have made the 'correct' choice, after you experience the consequences of your choice. But after a while you become aware how certain choices will effect you before you even take them. You become more 'discerning'.

Exactly. Consciousness is a 'whole body' experience. And our perceptions are 'hallucinations'.

Everything you do, you should ask yourself first: Is this good for humanity? If it isn’t, don’t do it. It’s a simple test. — Massimo Pigliucci

My 3 ethics, which work like a 3 legged chair.
1 is it good for me?
2 is it not bad for humanity?
3 is it not bad for the environment?

However I can never live completely according to my own ethics. I will remain a sinner to some extent.
I think Buddhism tries to show us the way.

There's not much that anyone can prove does not exist. — unenlightened

There is not much (if anything) that anyone wants to prove does not exist. The fact that we can't prove an anthropomorphic God does not exist, makes this powerful 'hypothesis'. so persistent and has allowed it to dominate western culture for centuries.

That people seek stability — khaled

People seek what to believe in. Belief gives them stability. We are all groping around in the dark with belief like a candle to show the way.

And since we know right and wrong, we know that your theory has to be wrong just for that reason alone. — SophistiCat

The most of what we sense to be right or wrong is more of a belief than knowledge.

We therefore “appropriate” (oikeiosis) the concerns of others, in what the 2nd century Stoic Hierocles described as “contracting” circles of ethical concern: — Massimo Pigliucci

Sorry, but if we “appropriate” (oikeiosis) the concerns of others" aren't we expanding our circles of concern?
And isn't that the problem we are facing at the moment in regard to poverty and deprivation and environmental degradation? Instead of expanding our oikeiosis we seem to be contracting it.

And as far as I can see the

conflict with other philosophical or socio-political views of life — Amity

would be purely selfish ones in the order of 'the strongest will survive' .
That has served our purposes quite well until now as every civilization bit the dust another was willing and able to take over.
To that extent I think we have arrived at the end of History. No other great civilization is going to 'take over' (China) when our last (The USA) falls. Because when it falls it seems to be determined to take the rest of the world down with it. Our civilization will not survive another 'great' war. We will return to the dark ages and not come out for quite some time.

I think god is a bit like that irritating teacher — unenlightened

The great thing about God is that nobody can prove He does not exist.

"Is consciousness located in the brain?", — Wheatley

All living things show a degree of 'consciousness'. Every cell in your body has 'consciousness'. You are the accumulation of all the cells in your body. Thought is a byproduct of your brain. You identify yourself with your thoughts. You believe you are your thoughts.

scientists have the particularity of thinking more, observing more and experimenting more than other people? — leo

Scientist do not think more. They observe and experiment more.

...each made art about social and political issues of great importance and urgency. “The politics we deal with differ greatly, and for us it would feel problematic if they were pitted against each other, with the implication that one was more important, significant or more worthy of attention than the others.

“At this time of political crisis in Britain and much of the world, when there is already so much that divides and isolates people and communities, we feel strongly motivated to use the occasion of the prize to make a collective statement in the name of commonality, multiplicity and solidarity – in art as in society.” — Guardian

I think we are coming to the realization that
'Together we stand. Apart we fall.'
The survival of our civilization now depends on how capable we are of cooperation to head off the negative forces of climate change and migration.

I don't think there is much difference in level of complexity between bacteria and a homo sapiens.
That said however I do think survival of the species is a kind of arms race where we have the nukes.

↪ovdtogt I was arguing for a pragmatic version of truth. — Coben

Beliefs that are believed to be false have no usefulness. False beliefs that are believed to be true can be useful.
Our belief in an anthropomorphic God may be false but that belief may still be useful. The truth in this case is that the ' unverifiable belief' can be useful. The truth again lies in the usefulness of the belief even though the belief itself may be false. The fact that this belief (in God) remains useful, is because it can not be verified.

idea of a false but useful belief would make no sense (and it clearly does make sense). — Bartricks

Beliefs that are believed to be false have no usefulness. False beliefs that are believed to be true can be useful.
Our belief in an anthropomorphic God may be false but that belief may still be useful. The truth in this case is that the ' unverifiable belief' can be useful. The truth again lies in the usefulness of the belief even though the belief itself may be false. The fact that this belief (in God) remains useful, is because it can not be verified.

we know it is false but it works — Coben

That does not make sense.

We know it is false because it does not work.

Useful" and 'true' clearly denote different properties, otherwise the idea of a false but useful belief would make no sense (and it clearly does make sense). — Bartricks

If you want to look for some esoteric 'mumbo jumbo' definition of truth, that is your prerogative. I think that is just about as useful as digging a hole and filling it in again. If you want to cleverly rearranging words, why not do a crossword puzzle?

Talking of memes. Have you noticed the trend wearing of shorts by the youth all of a sudden. Where did that come from?

how the idea is taken up, hence the term cultural packages. How these ‘ideas’, and I’m not even sure that’s an accurate term, get transferred is of interest to me, — Brett

Once you truly understand that fears and desires are the driving force behind all our actions everything will understand.

You don't value your objective?



I am of the opinion that contempory civilization has developed the means to almost completely control our fears and desires and has reduced us into consumer slaves.
Last night I wondered what would happen if all of a sudden all TV's (media) would disappear. It would be like waking up out of a dream ( or nightmare).

Ever read Catch 22? — ovdtogt

Can highly recommend it. You'll love it.

I still don't know what your answer is when I say, 'I am a liar'. This statement is either true or false. Which one is it?

Might be helpful to which remarks you are referring and why they offend you so.

When having sex many people are in a state they don't want to change. — Qmeri

I must be getting old, but after a short period I just want to 'come' and get it over with. BTW screwing the same woman gets a bit boring after 25 years.

Mainstream science has given all the stuff we like having. If we (in the West) are still not happy, is because we don't realize how well off we are. Boredom and loneliness are also a great problem in modern societies.

And being in a state you don't want to change doesn't mean that you are just lying in your bed doing nothing. — Qmeri

To be honest I find it very difficult to get out of bed in the morning. If it were up to me I would stay in bed for the rest of my life. Unfortunately it becomes so uncomfortable after a while (back pain, sore butt etc) I am forced to get out. Spend about 12 hours in bed.

When having sex many people are in a state they don't want to change. — Qmeri

I don't recognize that (must be getting old). After a while I just want to 'come' and get it over with.

We are physically and mentally programmed to react to internal and external signals: hunger, pain, thirst, cold, fear, desire (internal)and light, sound, taste.. 5 senses (external).
These signals are stimuli. If we receive too little stimuli we get bored.
People in solitary confinement can go crazy through the lack of stimuli.
People can go crazy in super quiet rooms.
People go crazy if they don't get enough human contact. All these stimuli are necessary to stay sane.

“know thyself”, and became famous through Socrates who claimed “Knowledge is inherent in man, not outside. Wisdom is learning to recollect” — waechter418

I experience this in it's purest form under influence from Cannabis. As you grow up you absorb knowledge. THC releases this knowledge (of myself and my world) from the Ego (which holds you hostage) and everything becomes clear and transparent. Most, if not all my philosophical thoughts are the result of the use of cannabis.

Another great story is Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. I have been fascinated by this book from a very young age.

To me achieving everything you want and being in a state you don't try to change is still happiness. — Qmeri

For me achieving everything I want and being in state I don't want to change has meant boredom not happiness. Happiness requires change.