If it was a choice, was there a conscious choice to make that choice? — flannel jesus

"Voluntarily choose" makes it sound arbitrary. Rather, some people aim to have their rational facilities set up so that they HAVE to accept genuinely good evidence. Changing their beliefs in the face of strong evidence becomes less of a choice and more of a mental compulsion - this evidence is so good that I MUST update my views, I'm not just Willy nilly choosing it

I don't believe the stuff I believe because I want to, I believe it because the combination of my life experiences and reasoning capacity make those beliefs the natural consequence. — flannel jesus

The healthy response to evil fantasies is not to suppress them, but to analyze and thereby disarm them. — Vera Mont

I said we don't voluntarily believe, not that we don't judge evidence. — Lionino

I said we don't voluntarily believe, not that we don't judge evidence. — Lionino

I'd think it would be much more realistic to say, "My neighbor only changes my belief if my intuitions about my neighbor are such that I trust him in this circumstance." However, those intuitions were themselves likely caused (to some extent) to be as they are by your neighbor.

I think your talk about choosing to believe isn't a realistic description of how such things happen. — wonderer1

You can, it is just not voluntary. The proof of that is that you can't will into believing the Sun is smaller than the moon, you can lie to yourself, but you won't believe it. — Lionino

Your neighbor changed your belief. — wonderer1

Most philosophers seem to agree that we can't directly control our beliefs, only indirectly, so the answer is no. — Lionino

We hear daily that Trump is either leading or tying with Biden in polls. What I can't figure out is, what Trump voters think they're voting for. — Wayfarer

If you have to ask… — Mikie

If Trump pardons himself the case against him will not proceed. If the case does not proceed the question of whether he has blanket immunity will not be addressed unless some other case arises before the court addressing this issue. — Fooloso4

If it does not go to trial before the election and Trump wins then the possibility of getting it right vanishes. — Fooloso4

Is there good reason why the Supreme Court should not have already quickly and unequivocally ruled that Trump is not above the law? If some of its members are, as they claim to be, originalists, then the overwhelming evidence leads them to only one conclusion, he is not. By prolonging deliberation they are dragging their feet and in effect obstructing justice. — Fooloso4

They’re deliberately dragging it out so that the trial is postponed until after the election. — Mikie

Is it possible to simulate consciousness with rocks? I think the only honest answer anyone can give is, "I don't know". — Malcolm Lett

If you existed alone on a desert island there would be no need for ethics - every decision would be to determine the burger or the other burger ethically — Fire Ologist

If I have a comment with lots of likes on some platform, sometimes I edit it to include purposefully incorrect information. — Lionino

oh well then, in principle... MAYBE — flannel jesus

Just out of interest, I'll have a go.
So, let's say that this kidney simulation is 100% accurate of a real kidney, to the level of, say, molecules. And that this kidney simulation has a rudimentary simulation of its context operating in a body, so that if a simulated kidney were to pee, then it could. In this example, the kidney would indeed pee, not on his desk, but inside the simulation.

If we take as an assumption (for the sake of this thought experiment) that consciousness is entirely physical, then we can do the same thing with a conscious brain. This time simulate the brain to the molecular level, and again provide it some rudimentary body context so that the simulated brain thinks it's operated inside a body with eyes, ears, hands, etc. Logically, this simulation thus simulates consciousness in the brain. That's not to say that the simulated brain is conscious in a real world sense, but that it is genuinely conscious in its simulated world. — Malcolm Lett

Nothing wrong with supporting people against aggression. The question is: why these people and not others? — Mikie

You don't treat civilians as civilians until shown to be a combatant, but the other way around: a civilian is a combatant unless being really proven to be a civilian. — ssu

These hypotheticals are Hollywood. Real conflict is not scripted. — Vera Mont

But all of that aside, meaning, all of US aside and our morality, before we judge the morality, we can simply see that animals kill and eat other animals.

That simply is, the very subject that already exists for our moral question. We spawn in the same pond of animals as all of our ancestors spawned to be food for the next… — Fire Ologist

As I said, we need general rules, but those rules cannot adequately deal with all cases. — Janus