TheMadFool

Well, I wouldn't go so far as to say that we don't need a body/brain. I guess I'd be happy with the view that the mind, although being associated with...

It would've been mighty convenient if Moore were available to tell us what exactly is the source of, why he thinks the statement is, absurd if not for...

I don't understand the issue here. Of course it'll be self-contradictory to say something like, "It's raining but I don't believe it is." The reason i...

If he can't then, all there is to reality is information and a simulation with the same information content as the actual is no different. If so, then...

What else do thoughts/minds depend on then?

Will Neil Armstrong be able to tell the difference between a (highly detailed) moon simulation and the actual moon?

Yet, it's impossible to say more than "for all practical purposes".

There lies the rub. The mind seems to be independent of the brain because when we sleep, the brain is still intact inside the head and yet we're not c...

But there's a problem with this view. I find it hard to believe that each thought is associated with a particular weight or other physical characteris...

It appears that all religions actually preach non-violence in the form of love but yet they've all devolved into systems that not only tolerate but al...

One word, Descartes. I don't want to waste your time with my arguments. Refute Descartes' deus deceptor.

I don't know where exactly you want to go with that but the problem, if it is one, is that Neil Armstrong can't tell the difference between an exquisi...

But not 100%? Why not? Why the refusal to, perhaps inability to, make the definitive statement: this world is NOT a simulation?

So, you're sure that this world you're experiencing is NOT a simulation? Descartes?

You could say that but an image on a page is different to an image in the mind because actual experiences are mental images.

The more interesting question seems to be this: did Neil Armstrong actually go to the moon?

Can Neil Armstrong tell the difference between a mind simulation of the moon and actually being there on the moon? He can't, can he? Doesn't that impl...

If you agree with me then, I agree with you I guess.

A straightforward question.

So, you agree?

If I give you a choice between my body and my consciousness, which would you say is me?

If the circulation and respiration are functioning and the brain is not then?

Look at my reply to jorndoe above.

There are two clear aspects to human life. 1. the body (sex, feeding, etc) and 2) the consciousness. What is the current medical definition of death?

Right. Consider then the matter of reality simulation. Neil Armstrong is placed in a chair at his home, electrodes connected to his brain a la The Mat...

Give me something more to go on than that...

If I'm correct, life/death is defined in terms of brain function given that materialism is true. The diagnosis of death requires, in most cases I supp...

But, everything about a circulation can be measured physically - the flow rate, the physical appearance of the blood, the chemical content of the bloo...

I asked this question to jorndoe and I'll ask you the same thing: what's the difference between Neil Armstrong recalling the moonscape he saw back in ...

Ok. I'll ask you a question. What's the difference between Neil Armstrong's memory of the moonscape which he saw when he landed on the moon in 1969 an...

The mind can't be the brain because when I die, my brain doesn't go anywhere but my consciousness (mind) is missing.

What's the difference between a dead body and a living body?

Ok. Let's look at it from another angle. What's the difference between me dead and me alive? There's a difference, right? It can't be the body since t...

Well, after doing some research it appears that electrons don't travel at relativistic speeds in an electrical appliance as I thought. My bad. Neverth...

The "current", if you could even call it that, in a human nervous system is, if you'll allow me a little freedom, chemical in nature as in there's no ...

Ok. There's a physical difference but I'd like you to look at the math. Between a dead me and an alive me there's something missing which doesn't have...

That's just one possibility. In my hasty reply to Banno I forgot to mention that my objective was to show that the mind can't be physical. Please go t...

All I wanted to establish is that the mind isn't physical. Did I succeed?

Yes, the on/off state of the cake mixer is not physical. The mind, likewise, is not physical. The mind appears to be a state of the body and not the b...

The point is simple: Mr. Armstrong's mind is capable of experiencing two worlds at a speed impossible for a material object. One could say that a memo...

I'm not too concerned about the material aspect of the mind - let's just say it's too apparent to ignore. What I'm looking at here is the immaterial s...

Good question. Unfortunately, I don't have an answer. Sorry

:up:

Excellent point. A doctors main objective is to eliminate the need for doctors. Paradox?

This doesn't make sense because p is a propositional variable and can only be replaced with a proposition and, to my understanding, p can't be replace...

So says the egoist. That's what I've been trying to disprove all along. The egoist fails to recognize the fact that being/doing good is supposed to ma...

I did mention that animals have what can be called standards of acceptable behavior - proto-morality? - that are observable even in non-social animals...

It looks like the egoist, in his view on altruism, believes that it's possible for a good act (toward others) either not to benefit or to cause a sens...

:up: I see. So, the egoist thinks the altruist's primary motivation is his/her own personal benefit from his/her actions. Well, if we must make a dist...

Let's be realistic. Is it possible to remove personal gain from anything anyone does? No, right. The egoist is right in that a person gains - is happy...