TheMadFool

I've been wrestling with the notion of free will for a long time and I can't seem to make any progress. It's a simple question - are we free? The answ...

I'm confused on this issue. On one hand it appears as though religion feeds off of our deepest fears (meaninglessness) and hopes (meaning/purpose). On...

Sorry I flagged your comment by mistake. Some changes since I last visited the site. Sorry again. Anyway, thanks for your reply. I learned a lot from ...

Strange isn't it that we look for the best scientific theory to help explain our world and on the other hand we have the adage ''too good to be true''...

Well, radical doubt will question the certainty with which you assert truths. Are you sure it's not a demon manipulating your mind?

H = I'm hungry and N = I'm not hungry At noon H is true and N is false. In the afternoon N is true and H is false. So, the truth value of H and N chan...

How can it be? Relativity says that simultaneity is observer dependent and the law of noncontradiction depends on simultaneity. Some have said that lo...

Just read it. It seems to have many holes but it's an alternative alright. What about the Big Bang Theory? Does it have holes that need patching up?

That's a very pragmatic and beautiful. As I said in my reply to Ying, radical doubt should be used rather than solved because as a tool it serves to r...

I just proved it. Can you name one truth that you're 100% sure of? But then this solution leads to arbitrariness - something that isn't rational, righ...

But doubt casts a shadow over everything - your assumptions AND your methods. It's great to think of philosophy as an investigation but what if our te...

One of those times when time is important in logic. The sign was true before the man gave the clerk money and then it became false. However, the IF-TH...

That's another angle to the problem. What I'm really concerned with is the inability to understand objects without properties. I just returned from a ...

It's strange that we have to make do with the line of best fit. I guess there's a lot of uncertainty in astronomy. I have nothing against the Big Bang...

Mental illness is an ill-defined entity. Norms vary with culture. What is considered routine in one country may be madness in another. That aside, in ...

Skepticism is a problem for philosophy because there is no absolute certainty in it. How does one overcome it? Do we fall back on pragmatism or do we ...

One interesting angle to this problem is one that considers it'll self-solve (if that's a word). We don't need to care about it at all. Just like bact...

Free speech is more about listening than speaking. While it's defined in terms of a speaker what it's actually about is the listener. So, we shouldn't...

The term ''Conspiracy theory'' is loaded with prejudice. It has a bad connotation and kinda deflates the balloon before it takes flight. I think consp...

A philosopher is one who loves Sophia. I don't think the feeling is mutual.

The universe and a computer simulation are so like each other that the distinction human-machine is very blurry; to the extent that it raises question...

I'll accept that because ''this'' may be defined to self-refer.

Why is the mirage there in the first place?

Consciousness may be computable. What is conscioisness anyway? The Turing Test doesn't actually detect consciousness does it? It can't differentiate r...

Yes, it boils down to that I'm afraid. Truth is stranger than fiction.

You're right. It's all about relationships. But these relationships are quantitative/mathematical. That's what I want to say. A conscious computer ent...

I think there are two theories regarding the human population explosion: 1. More the merrier. Some say the probability of geniuses rise with increasin...

F = G(m1×m2)/r^2 E = mc^2 Did you read the book Just six numbers? Yes, there's the infinite regress problem with the simulated universe view but the p...

Thanks. Dialetheism it is then. Thanks for the post. It's an interesting connection. Something denying itself. It happens in some mental illnesses too...

I just looked at the dictionary and found out that "this" isn't a self-referential word. Google definition: used to identify a specific person or thin...

Disagreement dwells in ignorance. Agreement requires truth and knowledge. Imagine two people in a forest at night. They're surrounded by darkness and ...

I see certain avenues for investigation: 1. Self-reference. There are other self-referential sentences that don't make sense. One I can think of is "E...

It's an infinite loop right? Flip-flops between true and false. Basically a contradiction. How does paraconsistent logic handle the liar sentence. I h...

Sorry. My memory isn't as good as it used to be. If you have the time, can you explain to me why L is NOT equivalent to L'? Let me try. L' seems to be...

I was thinking that too. It's the official position isn't it - that the liar sentence is NOT a proposition? I still can't understand that the equivale...

The point is both cyberspace and our universe are based on mathematical rules. See?

1) All causal inferences are coincidences 2) Contradictory: It is false that some causal inferences are not coincidences 3) Subaltern: Some causal inf...

I guess there's a philosophy behind it. I think it's called pragmatism - in essence we better take what we get. I know there's a shift from ''highly i...

If the weight of the coin were to be unevenly distributed that would be a loaded coin.

I'm simply putting everything in question here and I've justified my stance. Everyday experience could be wrong. I know that sounds crazy, as your exa...

Firstly, an ''error'' from who's perspective? Secondly, how do we know this universe is error-free? May be we haven't detected any yet?

Truth or the lack of it.

That's a strawman but yes, that's essentially it.

In one sense the question is meaningless in that we can't prove existence without perception. Look at ALL claims of existence we make of the world. Th...

Why?

Infinite Monkey Theorem The monkey, if given sufficient time, WILL produce Shakespeare's and Einstein's works. Yet, the source is totally random. That...

Prove to me that rationality is the best thinking tool.

Am I? I just have a few questions more. Thanks.

Ok. I'll ask you this... Is rationality perfect in every sense of the word? Yes. Prove it. No. Prove it. (My OP is proof that rationality isn't perfec...

I like to try the impossible. Rationality has this perfect reputation that I think needs examination. That's all. Thanks for your replies though. They...