I've thought about this in mathematical research. In a sense, once definitions and rules of procedure are in place one could say that all that deductively follows exists somehow. It's a matter of discovering these outcomes. Of course, new definitions crop up all the time. The ideas of measurement and continuity in Euclidean spaces led to the generalization of metric spaces and point-set topology. These, in turn led to Banach and Hilbert spaces and algebraic topology. It goes on and on.

Although this line of thinking might be interesting among (analytic?) philosophers, most math researchers don't care. It's challenging enough to speculate and create the deductive schemes.

Just started Vortex on Netflix. Not what I expected! Talk about a strange murder mystery. In French.

Your still wrong! — Sir2u

$\Delta \tau =\Delta T\sqrt{1-\frac{{{v}^{2}}}{{{c}^{2}}}}$

On the right the time that passes on Earth (delta T), and on the left the time that passes onboard the ship (delta tau) moving at near light speed.

In an ontological sense both spacetimes are 'here' in ontological space but being distinct geometries they are distinct universes. — EnPassant

Well, they certainly have a variety of metrics which supposedly reduce to one another as scales change. I wasn't even aware there were quantum spacetimes. Thanks.

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

This statement isolates SB from the coin toss. "What is the probability that the coin shows heads?" 1/2.

there is something wrong with the math here. — Sir2u

Time dilation aboard the ship. Lorentz factor. From the standpoint of Earth, yes. Hopeless. From the speeding ship perspective the clock ticks slower.

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

Meaning comes up heads. 1/2

Mathematicians have abstracted the notion of "spaces", introducing "points" in such spaces that can be functions for example. Then there is a question of metrics - how to define and measure "distances". And it's true that various spaces have subspaces - like your walking, talking kind. Objects composed of these kinds of points can be relocated as isomorphisms, etc. One can take a disc in the complex plane and relocate it in the plane, preserving its character. So these subspaces are roughly like what you are describing. Unbeknownst, you are venturing into abstract mathematics.

It all seems like an intentional distraction from the antagonisms existing in the real and political worlds.

I cited my source for the proposition that climate change policies that are not adhered to by major climate change contributors will not be effective — Hanover

This needs a cited source? :roll:

And then there is Stormy Daniels. Where is that woman? :chin:

I have only provided an example of someone who considers themselves to be a "Luddite" and refrains from using some aspects of modern technology. I infer nothing more than that. This individual has created thousands of jobs over the years.

But there are dammed rivers he would return to the wild if he could.

Trump is done — creativesoul

Sadly, these are edible words.

:up:

If scientists find an extrasolar planet with an atmospheric oxygen percentage comparable to that of the Earth, it will be pretty huge news — wonderer1

Then the question would be, how many light years away? What we see may have happened eons ago.

I have actually known a modern Luddite. I knew him when he was virtually penniless and watched him become a billionaire, with a cabin on the seacoast having no electricity for his getaway. He would do away with dams and hydroelectric power in order to save the fish that lived in the rivers. He has been a staunch supporter of wild rivers.

He doesn't use a computer, but his employees do, keeping up with a business that is worldwide. However, recently he stepped away from the corporation he established and set up a foundation. He is a year or two younger than me and during the 1990s was on a panel consulting with Bill Clinton. His success story is the American dream come true. I wish him well - but he would take down dams if he could.

If alien beings are among us I would guess they come from some sort of alternate reality rather than a distant planet. This is my pet theory about the Grandfather Paradox: The instant grandpa is killed the reality shifts and we never know the time traveler existed.

The question that is of great importance is why we are here — simplyG

Good luck with that. As an existentialist I say we are here by accident and we make meaning in our lives. Otherwise, the study of God and Angels is medieval scholasticism.

Could not an advanced species, with different cognitive capacity and an alternate physicality, inhabit the 'space' we do not experience? — Tom Storm

Flying saucers would be horse and buggy stuff for them.

But anyway, the key point here is that science is backing away from naive realism to understand the world of abstract quantification. Just a mathematical model and its habits of measurement. Epistemic method replaces ontic claims about what is "really out there". This is what information and entropy are all about. — apokrisis

The physicist Richard Muller, in Quora, expresses the opinion that current physicists are being misled by the graceful dynamics and beauty of mathematics. He argues that nature is a bit rougher in texture, with topics like String theory taking precedence over what is in fact real, not merely an intellectual sheen over fact. I assume he is thinking of quantum theory in particular.

At least superficially, this is contra to Wigner's famous piece on the unreasonable effectiveness. Perhaps not.

Unfortunately, these legal struggles will make Trump even more popular with a large number of Americans. Look at Bolsonaro in Brazil . It is legal for someone in prison to be elected president.

WTF is wrong with the Dems? Biden is six years my junior and I can tell you someone that age should not be president. And then there is VP Harris.

Suppose we are that highly intelligent species with advanced technology, and we wish to travel to a star and its planets a million light years away. We are capable of bringing our speed in short order to very, very close to light speed. So we hop aboard and take off, and it takes us less than a year to reach the star. However, Earth is long gone, not even a scrap of matter remaining. Of what value is our journey to those left behind?

If we left our planet because it was quickly dying, and we wanted to preserve humankind the trip would indeed be a terrific gamble. And our destination might have changed dramatically by the time we arrive.

So, even if there had been intelligent life other than ours, it would have been a truly desperate decision, coupled with incredibly advanced technical capabilities, to attempt a journey to Earth.

When asleep and a loud sound occurs, if we don't awaken the sound is interpreted by the brain into some kind of dream occurrence. But this is not the deep sleep discussed here.

Also, no one has mentioned how crappy the alien pilots must be to keep crashing all the time. I can only think of two possible reasons 1)After you get three DUIs on Koozebane, they sentence you to Earth 2) Earth is where all the college kids on Venus go for spring break — T Clark

:100: :party: :clap:

Lucid dreaming brings one to a state of full awareness, but it's sleep state is shallow rather than deep.

As usual, your post is a superb antidote to the mind-numbing babbles on "consciousness" that pervade this forum.

And on top of that, it makes it sound like full attention is the true ground state when instead, practiced inattention is the general goal of the brain — apokrisis

And does that general goal produce pleasure?

I was a mathematician on one hand and a rock climber on the other - and the dichotomy is interesting. An intellectual pursuit is obviously one end of the spectrum - although even here a period of relaxation allows notions to bubble to the surface - but surprisingly perhaps, climbing can attain its goals at both ends.

One might think that getting to the top of a climb first is all it's about, and assuredly most participants delight in achieving this goal, but at the other end of the spectrum there is reward in practiced performance, smooth, effortless. This was analyzed and researched by an old acquaintance of mine from the U of Chicago many years ago: Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. He defined this as "flow". Long ago I wrote a chapter on climbing as a mystical art form for a compendium on mountaineering, moving as far away from competition with it's intense focus as possible.

I would guess action sports like basketball induce pleasure in both "spheres" :cool:

I had a chat with Bing AI, asking if a rock has consciousness. It gave a well-reasoned reply, but ended by asking me if I believed a rock has consciousness. Wise ass robot.

Arguments about panpsychism can easily devolve into mere word play. If one introduces behavior as a kind of corollary of consciousness one must contend with the notion that things like glass possess behaviors when acted upon by various forces and environments: A behavior of glass is it melts at high temperatures. When I pick up a rock and drop it, it falls as behavior when subjected to gravity. If I heat the rock it may crack at a certain temperature - according to its patterns of behavior.

...constraints from the higher level not only help to select the lower level-trajectory but also pull it into its future at the same time. Top-down causality is a form of final causality’

(Development and Evolution 1993, p.270)

Elementary discrete dynamical systems move forward one step at a time, iterating a function. With feedback from "above" that iteration could become a composition sequence of many functions, not simply an iteration of an unchanging function. This kind of stuff is right down my alley. I'll have to give it a look. Thanks for elucidating this concept. :cool:

there are four possible arrangements with probability 1/4 each: {HH, HT, TH, TT}. — JeffJo

:up:

The use of probability in this regard is no more than medieval scholasticism. And I have trouble accepting 1). But that's just me. Let's watch those angels breaking symmetry on that pin.

Suppose a B-brain occupies one cubic foot of space. Then 10 of them occupy 10 cubic feet, 100 of them occupy 100 cubic feet, etc. Density is just mass/volume. So the density for any volume of space is just one.

?? Reference, please. — jgill

For what? — noAxioms

Perhaps I misinterpret what you said. It sounds like you are saying that it is certain those monkeys will type out Shakespeare.

This article aims to show that if we assume two things as given, that of an interactionist view point and the theory of evolution by mutation and natural selection, it follows that there is a particular moment in time I label the initial alteration.

I might argue there is no particular moment so described, but rather a long more or less continuous development of human consciousness. More or less in that there are jumps here and there, but overall a kind of continuity with various aspects of mind appearing as a kind of dynamical system influenced by feedback from environment.

Astronomical odds are still finite, so when multiplied by infinite time, they become not just probable, but certain — noAxioms

?? Reference, please.

Consciousness: a categorical mistake. To have consciousness is not like having an ice cream cone.

At least you are correct in that the last people usually left holding the bag are workers, — ssu

Don't forget the retirees on fixed income.

A draconian rate hike would not be a good idea, but something above the 5.1% might be appropriate. Yes, banks are in turmoil and seeking cash and not happy with the higher CD rates they are forced to pay.

However, I'm a novice in financial affairs.

Paul Volcker, where are you? The current feds are too timid, IMO.

I haven't kept up with this thread, but when I read the original statement in the OP, what comes to mind is Yogi Berra's advice: When you come to a fork in the road, take it.