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Agent Smith

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Well, if other minds could be nothing more than my imagination, the concepts public, sharing, etc. are null and void, oui? Ok. I defer to your better ...
August 04, 2022 at 05:34
Solipsism basically boils down to cogito ergo sum (re René Descrates). The only truth that we're absolutely sure of is our own existence as minds. The...
August 04, 2022 at 04:43
You've then missed the point of solipsism, oui? The private language argument sweeps under the rug the fact that philosophy, in fact and all human dis...
August 04, 2022 at 04:35
I wish it were!
August 04, 2022 at 04:05
I don't buy into Wittgensteinism which, as far as I can tell, you're trying to peddle here. How can we discuss other minds when the existence of other...
August 04, 2022 at 04:04
Why would you disagree? Isn't it quite clear that, in line with solipsism, the only thing we can be certain about is our own self, that too as somewha...
August 04, 2022 at 03:51
There really is no choice; if we want absolute 100% certainty, we'll all havta be solipsists. Only if we lower the bar of certitude can we engage with...
August 04, 2022 at 03:39
I don't see how I'm guilty of hyperbole? I merely mentioned but left out the details, making it quite impossible for me to blow things out of proporti...
August 04, 2022 at 03:18
Well, idealism is a chess game where your opponent is you, yourself. Both players are fully aware of each's strategy/game plan (relative, mutual omnis...
August 03, 2022 at 11:11
When we do something, ensure the highest quality in your work, but that means one's gotta be an all-rounder, a polymath! Objective: Arête Qualifiactio...
August 03, 2022 at 10:47
And the question of the year award goes to Dr. Bartricks. Most excellent, monsieur, most excellent. Allow me to attempt at an answer. The mind isn't a...
August 03, 2022 at 10:44
We can't resist, can we? Inside everyone is an artist, ready to reveal themselves, oui?
August 03, 2022 at 10:35
China, hullo! Nancy Pelosi has left Taiwan! Isn't that great or what? :snicker:
August 03, 2022 at 09:43
I guess it all boils down to each one of us being utterly impotent in the face of so-called facts; you may kill every black swan to make the statement...
August 03, 2022 at 09:30
Conscription is pointless, oui? A nation that has to force its people to fight for it is, in a sense, already vanquished. I recall reading about a Rus...
August 03, 2022 at 09:11
That, in a nutshell, is the problem! Well said! It's quite odd that this is so. In the simplest sense, neither the seller nor the buyer need to be mor...
August 03, 2022 at 08:56
Faith isn't just believing without reason. That should suffice. Richard Dawkins, yeah, he does bring out the difference between scientist & philosophe...
August 03, 2022 at 08:13
Well, truth is, logic does set down impassable boundaries, clearly demarcates no-go areas in re thought/thinking. It can be likened to a cage of sorts...
August 03, 2022 at 08:07
I know, right? With so many possibilities, we're overwhelmed by overchoice!
August 03, 2022 at 04:56
Richard Dawkins, staunch atheist, also labeled not-so-lovingly as a militant atheist claims to be 7 on 1 to 10 scale of how certain he is that God doe...
August 03, 2022 at 04:47
If you get the impression that I'm being facetious, apologies, it's unintended. Quite sad that I give off that rather annoying vibe. Anyway, my advice...
August 03, 2022 at 04:10
Well, I'd say that nobody's really sat down and thought these matters through seriously. What I'd like is a treatise on not points of view (on issues)...
August 03, 2022 at 04:06
Oh! Idealism & Solipsism were then, inter alia, reactions to Newtonian determinism which Kant had endorsed. The mind could still be deterministic thou...
August 03, 2022 at 03:42
Last I checked, Newton was a very religious person. Kant was too; after all we're talking about the 17th & 18th centuries, the hey days of faith. Perh...
August 03, 2022 at 03:30
Aye! I never understood dualism!
August 03, 2022 at 03:21
I see! There's a logical impossibility at the heart of solipsism & idealism. To disprove them we havta, in a sense, look without looking.
August 03, 2022 at 03:07
Hallelujah! The possibility remains that I'm mistaking ignorance for complexity. There are many occasions when what one thought was complicated turns ...
August 03, 2022 at 03:03
Indeed. The poltico-economic environment (conservatism + capitalism) is conducive to exploitation. It looks like a work in progress - the systems we'r...
August 03, 2022 at 03:00
I suppose if easy money, a quick buck can be made via exploitation then (wealthy) folks will, quite naturally, take this shortcut to riches. However, ...
August 03, 2022 at 02:45
Can religions be working assumptions and is it prudent/wise to believe in God (re Pascal's wager)?
August 03, 2022 at 02:32
Well, I did agree that giving birth to children is imposing on 'em (your aggressive paternalism). Nonetheless, antinatalism is also an imposition. Thi...
August 03, 2022 at 02:30
Different strains of logic (argumentation) 1. Deductive (certainty) 2. Inductive (probability) 3. Abductive (falsifiable only) Each has its very own s...
August 02, 2022 at 08:51
Yep, the smartest person in the room is the one who is least dumbest! There are no sages, only lesser fools!
August 02, 2022 at 08:36
We can't! That's the nub of the issue. At best we could say that we all have a lot of behavioral elements, those associated with minds (intentionality...
August 02, 2022 at 08:33
It looks like our standards have gone up since (real) slavery - the kind where we used to work people to death - was practiced all over the so-called ...
August 02, 2022 at 07:17
That's it! :up: Awesome! Prognostication subsumed under pattern-recognition I suppose. A complex web of a multitude of patterns interacting with/infor...
August 02, 2022 at 07:11
:pray:
August 02, 2022 at 06:36
Philosophy, it just dawned on me, is an homage to and an attempt to tackle ignorance. Our struggle...with darkness...has been a long and hard one.
August 02, 2022 at 06:10
On target! It isn't that we have the luxury of maximizing gains, it's that we're tasked with minimizing losses. Like some might want to share - there ...
August 02, 2022 at 05:59
Can it be said that logic frees rather than constrains? To be perfectly logical then is a divine attribute, oui? If so, the stone paradox is both a po...
August 02, 2022 at 05:55
:fire: You're on a roll amigo!
August 02, 2022 at 05:43
We need 'em like a chimney sweep needs a shower. I wanted to pick schopenhauer1's brain on how, given the givens, a minimum amount of suffering is nec...
August 02, 2022 at 04:31
Nice! It seems that we are in full control of only movement vis-à-vis our bodies - walking/grasping/etc (we can move + modulate the speed of our movem...
August 02, 2022 at 03:49
Humans are both strongly individualistic and also highly collectivistic. The point to this is rather simple - amplify the pros and dilute the cons of ...
August 02, 2022 at 03:29
The OP makes a good point! The infinite regress that inheres to the issue of explaining (things) proves his/her point in a succinct and powerful manne...
August 02, 2022 at 03:18
Roger!
August 02, 2022 at 03:09
I read between the lines! Perhaps an overactive imagination. Apologies, I'm into conspiracy theories! :blush:
August 02, 2022 at 03:07
Let's hope that the sacrifice is worth it!
August 02, 2022 at 03:06
Perhaps the choices are clowns or a-holes! In other words, the people's decision in the elections was sagacious and not foolish! C'est la vie! Zelenes...
August 02, 2022 at 03:04