frank

Have to give the problem of induction its due though.

I want to say it isn't anthropomorphism. There is something genuine about it even though it's not the way we typically think of conversation. What I r...

Yes. And just as people vary in how well they read human body language, people vary in their comprehension of the world's body language. The world's b...

Maybe in the same way a cat is naturally outfitted with claws, fangs, keen eyesight, and instinct to kill, all of which are engaged in the wait for th...

'We are such stuff as dreams are made of.'

An example would be that as I stand waiting for an elevator to open, my body language expresses expectation. When I push the button for my floor, I'm ...

Carry on. :)

Ok. I just think you're overlooking what you're giving up in terms of the requirements of communication. You're letting an ontological tail wag the do...

It's a logical problem.

That the world is flat is a proposition. It's an abstract object. It is not a mental object.

Idealistic monism is a mirror image of physicalism. Instead of consciousness being emergent, matter is. Or matter is complete privation of the Good (w...

I wouldn't say I'm inclined toward idealism. I don't really have an inclination. :)

Schopenhauer takes an interesting route to multiplicity. Check him out.

Dualism isn't incoherent, it's just problematic. But that isn't what measuring devices are supposed to do in the Copenhagen interpretation is it? The ...

Ontological realism isn't necessary to physics. There are idealistic and physical schemes that are compatible with any sort of physics. Scientists don...

I see. I've been trying out ontological anti-realism lately. I like the flexibility it provides. It reminds me to keep in mind what we know and what w...

I'm curious what you mean by 'accounting for consciousness.'

One thing to note is that this discussion isn't really about the way the world works, its about what constitutes quantum theory. Therefore, the best r...

Mmmm, pineapple.

Is it possible that you're over reacting?

Are you saying that the concept of belief serves no purpose beyond explaining acting on error? It's interesting to ponder the relationship between bel...

So once again nothing changed. Life is bizarre.

Convergent evolution

Drrrree-yala-tea. Sniff.

The people I know who voted for him aren't particularly outraged. They thought he might be an antidote to what they saw as an already corrupt and too ...

I didn't want you to say anything in particular. I was just curious about your opinion. Thanks!

What would you say about the ontology of abstract objects? Why is math a valuable tool for describing the world?

This reminds me of the poem Invictus, here which I have turned to in some dark moments. :up:

I heard a commentator say the US is locked in an ideological conflict with Russia. When did that happen?

Makes sense. Does the study of consciousness exclude anything that happens when we're asleep? I'm not sure I know how dissect consciousness. It seems ...

What? Lol. Hope you have a good day. :)

You seemed to be considering the possibility that it's irrelevant. Obviously it can't be.

Belief entails consciousness. Whatever consciousness may be (expressable or not), it's relevant. Were you thinking that consciousness reduces to a bun...

Mental state is involved in the expression of and comprehension of statements. Private or not, mental state can't be irrelevant.

An ancestor of the image of St George slaying the dragon is Horus attacking Set (depicted as a crocodile). Horus was god of arable soil while Set was ...

How does more stipulation do that?

Oddly you say there are no propositions, and then the last two sentences assert that there are propositions ("same truth conditions"). Better: I know ...

So is Julie Taymor's work. Her Titus is an abstract object. Doesn't a thing have to be linguistic in order to play a role in a language game? Abstract...

To be consistent, you'd have to say that all of the above is also true of concrete objects. Jupiter is nothing but a role. Or is it that "Jupiter" is ...

How do you account for agreement without abstract objects? We don't agree on sounds or scribbles. Agreement as some sort of nodding behavior?

In that case I'll give it a shot. I have a long standing fascination with mass events. Simplistic narratives versus merging diverse agendas.

LOL, no, it does sound fascinating. It sounds like it's over my head though. I hope you get a chance to post something about it.

Wow, that sounds fascinating.

You're saying the shorthand could lead to misconceptions. I don't have a degree in monsterology, but I assume it would be like asking what gets more h...

You can't make a Frankenstein monster if you don't know how to turn up the intensity of the recessor coils. Does the person who makes that adjustment ...

So if there's a white dog, the dog's whiteness isn't a thing which the dog might be sharing with all other white dogs. There's just dogs who have a ra...

Yes it is.

Isn't that already covered in the concept of predication?

'The moralist says: "You're bad." The humanist says: "You're human."' Can't remember who said that, but it's pretty close to Boethius' view.

Does everybody agree with Janus that if you know how to use words like "belief" and "idea", then you know what they are, and there's no need for any m...