But as far as violence is concerned, the USA sees many tens of thousands dead by gun violence every year. — Wayfarer
There might be different kinds, and trends, but way less over all. — Wosret
That the consequential fearmongering is not to be taken literally, but understood to just be emotional manipulation on its face? — Wosret
Anyway, I think Dennett's anti-philosophy is a complete falsehood, a crock from top to bottom. So do a lot of other philosophers, but they have to be polite about it. It is simply the attempt to apply 'scientific thinking' to subjects beyond it's scope, which is 'scientism', pure and simple. People have been pointing this out about Dennett for decades, but he keeps turning out this nonsense. — Wayfarer
“The way in which this conscious life is allegedly illusory is finally explained in terms of a “user illusion”, such as the desktop on a computer operating system. We move files around on our screen desktop, but the way the computer works under the hood bears no relation to these pictorial metaphors. Similarly, Dennett writes, we think we are consistent “selves”, able to perceive the world as it is directly, and acting for rational reasons. But by far the bulk of what is going on in the brain is unconscious, low-level processing by neurons, to which we have no access. Therefore we are stuck at an “illusory” level, incapable of experiencing how our brains work. — Saphsin
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