Comments

  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I am not saying this at all. On the second last post on page three of this thread, I have stated that I know 7 things with 100% certainty.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I agree with everything you have said except for this statement: "And see, you are bringing it up yourself, invalidating therefore your first statement, i.e. that you are 100% certain that you are conscious!" My statement: "It is possible that what I perceive is either a dream or a hallucination or an illusion or a simulation and not objectively real." does not invalidate my previous statement: "I am 100% certain that I am conscious." My experience of being conscious makes me 100% certain that I am conscious when I am conscious. I don't experience this when I am unconscious. It is possible that my perceptions e.g. I see the computer keyboard and the computer screen as I type these words, are not of an actual reality. It's possible that the keyboard and the screen exist only in a dream or hallucination or simulation or illusion.

    You said that you lost the ball when I mentioned macroscopic determinism. So, I will explain it. Quantum indeterminacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_indeterminacy and the Uncertainty Principle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncertainty_principle exist. However, this does not lead to indeterminacy at the macroscopic level. We can precisely measure the position and vector of a football even though we can't do that with an electron.

    I agree that our perceptions of reality is subjective but there is such a thing as shared subjectivity e.g. we can both see the Sun and the Moon. So, the Sun and the Moon exist in our shared subjective world. Most humans would say that the existence of the Sun and the Moon is an objective truth because every human with a functioning visual system sees the Sun and the Moon when they are visible.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    So far, I am 100% or completely certain of the following:
    1. I am conscious.
    2. I am typing in English.
    3. I am not all-knowing.
    4. I am not all-powerful.
    5. I change.
    6. I can't do lots of things I really want to do e.g. go back in time and prevent all suffering, inequality, injustice, and deaths and make all living things forever happy.
    7. I do some things even though I don't want to do them.
    Here are some things I have done, currently do or will do even though I don't want to do them:

    1. Breathe
    2. Eat
    3. Drink
    4. Sleep
    5. Dream
    7. Pee
    8. Poo
    9. Fart
    10. Burp
    11. Sneeze
    12. Cough
    13. Age
    14. Get ill
    15. Get injured
    16. Sweat
    17. Cry
    18. Suffer
    19. Snore
    20. Think
    21. Feel
    22. Choose
    23. Be conceived
    24. Be born
    25. Remember some events that I don't want to remember
    26. Forget information that I want to remember
    27. Die

    I am 99.99% or almost certain of the following:
    1. I and all the other organisms currently alive will die. Every second brings all organisms closer to death.
    2. My body, other organisms, the Earth and the Universe really exist.
    3. Other organisms e.g. humans, cows, dogs, cats, chickens, pigs, lions, elephants, butterflies, whales, dolphins, etc. are conscious.
    4. Being a vegan is more ethical than being a vegetarian and being a vegetarian is more ethical than being an omnivore.
    5. Gods do not exist.
    6. Souls do not exist.
    7. Reincarnation does not happen.
    8. Resurrection does not happen.
    10. Organisms evolved and were not created by God or Gods.
    11. 99.9% of all the species to evolve so far on Earth became extinct in 5 mass extinctions long before humans evolved.
    12. Humans and other organisms do not have free will. Our wills are determined and constrained by our genes, environments, nutrients, and experiences.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    How do I know that something self-evident is true? My perceptions could be real or simulations or hallucinations or dreams or illusions.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    How can a duck's consciousness be replaced by an alien? Is consciousness something separate from the body that can be put in different bodies or is it something emergent as a result of brain activities?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I agree that a shapeshifting alien could be pretending to be a duck and we would not be able to tell without analysing blood samples, etc.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I am not convinced that reality works in a way that requires absolute uncertainty to exist for absolute certainty to exist. The two ends of the electromagnetic spectrum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_spectrum are not total opposites of each other. Also, just because energy cannot be created or destroyed it does not mean that it is finite. There could be an infinite amount of energy spread across an infinite number of universes.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you very much for your explanation. I understand now. I agree with you.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I agree that "the percentage is there more as an adjective than a mathematical relationship."
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I agree that I am certain that we are communicating in English as opposed to any other language. Thoughts, emotions, perceptions, recollections, etc. exist even though we don't know whether souls exist or not and whether brains really exist or not.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    1 + 1 = 2. 1 + 1 does not equal 4. Two people can become parents of two children and that would cause the number of people in that family to increase to 4. That does not change the math 1 + 1 = 2. The math in that case is 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 4.

    I agree that religious beliefs are faith-based rather than evidence-based. Religions contradict themselves and each other. Please see: https://skepticsannotatedbible.com and https://www.evilbible.com

    However, if our perceived reality is not actually real, then science can't be relied upon to give us facts. Science assumes that what we observe is real and not simulated or dreamt or hallucinated, etc. It is not possible for me to know with complete certainty that my body, other humans, non-human organisms, the Earth and the rest of the Universe actually exist.

    According to Hinduism, our perceived world is an illusion called Maya. It is created by the Hindu Gods to test living things. It is impossible to prove or disprove this claim.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I agree with your example of the pickles.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    I have never witnessed souls either. I am an agnostic regarding the existence of Gods, souls, reincarnation, resurrection, karma, etc.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    By "100% certain" I mean completely certain. I am completely certain that I am conscious. I am almost completely certain that I will die.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for giving me more food for thought.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Yes, at least, I do. I can't speak for you or others.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Excellent point. It is possible that the self is an illusion and thoughts and emotions and words and actions simply happen as a result of brain activities.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Here are some things I have done, currently do or will do even though I don't want to do them:

    1. Breathe
    2. Eat
    3. Drink
    4. Sleep
    5. Dream
    7. Pee
    8. Poo
    9. Fart
    10. Burp
    11. Sneeze
    12. Cough
    13. Age
    14. Get ill
    15. Get injured
    16. Sweat
    17. Cry
    18. Suffer
    19. Snore
    20. Think
    21. Feel
    22. Choose
    23. Be conceived
    24. Be born
    25. Remember some events that I don't want to remember
    26. Forget information that I want to remember
    27. Die

    What I really want to do is go back in time and prevent all suffering, inequality, injustice, and deaths and make all living things forever happy but I can't do it. I am doing things I don't want to do. I can't do what I want to do. So, how can I have free will?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for your question. I am 100% certain that I am conscious because I am experiencing being conscious. It's a fact that is undeniable to me. Although, I can't prove to others (if they really exist) that I am not a Philosophical Zombie https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_zombie - if others really exist they can't prove to me that they are not philosophical zombies either.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you "punos" for your thoughtful reply. I am not a physicist, so please excuse my ignorance. Why would a proton be affected by other particles in a 5 light seconds radius? Surely, the zone of being affected would be mere millimetres or even less?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I find uncertainty difficult but I have no way to be certain of anything except for one fact: I am conscious. I am 99.99% certain that I will die but I can't be 100% certain of it until I have died. If it was up to me, all living things would be forever happy and there would not be any suffering, inequality, injustice, and deaths. Sadly, it is not up to me.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for watching the video and for sharing your thought about it. You can watch the full video here if you want to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhvAAvwS-UA&t=135s
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    You are most welcome "Corvus." If souls exist, it is possible that souls reincarnate or resurrect after death of the body. I don't know if souls exist or not.
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you "Corvus" for your reply. I am 99.99% certain that I will die but I can't be 100% certain of it until I have died. If it was up to me, all living things would be forever happy and there would not be any suffering, inequality, injustice, and deaths. Sadly, it is not up to me. How would I know if others really exist? How would I know if others are really conscious or are actually philosophical zombies?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for your reply "Art48." I am 100% certain that I am conscious. No infinite regress is involved with this. Did you watch the Robert Sapolsky video excerpt? If so, what do you think?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you "Tom Storm" and "Philosophism" for your replies. You have given me much to think about. So, is my perceived reality actually real or not? Do I have free will or not? Am I right to be a vegan or not? Am I right to be an agnostic or not? How would I know? This video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaxHTYtSavc is fascinating. Is Robert Sapolsky right?
  • What can I know with 100% certainty?
    Thank you for your reply "Outlander." It is more accurate to say, "Like minds think alike." It is the fact that they think alike that makes their minds alike.