Truth Seeker

Even non-violent conflicts can be problematic. Violence is not the only way to cause harm. How can we prevent all harm?

Lots of things are outside our control. I tried to be stoical about it but I failed. Perhaps I failed because I am currently depressed. I scored 23/27...

Yes, it is tricky.

Thank you for your thoughtful post. I don't have a problem with having a diversity of opinions. What I have a problem with is how living things are tr...

I agree. Thank you for explaining.

You may be right. Do you have inner peace?

That's interesting. Which path led you to this conclusion?

Thank you for your apology - I was not blaming you. Could anyone really have made a different choice in the past than the choice they made? I don't th...

I have never said that. I have never even thought that. What I said is that it would be very difficult for them to live if they lacked the capacity to...

I agree.

I am glad no such person actually exists. It would be very hard for them to live.

I agree with ChatGPT 4.

I know that the Artificial Intelligence we currently have e.g. Chat GPT 4 are not and don't claim to be conscious. I am talking about Artificial Gener...

Thank you. The key problem with AI is how would we know if the AI is conscious given the fact that we can't tell which human is conscious and which hu...

As they won't be able to learn any language, we are not going to know what kind of thoughts or values the hypothetical baby will develop - if any. If ...

I agree.

I imagine the hallucination would involve proprioception. I don't know. I am spitballing here.

We can imagine what it may be like for a newborn baby without any sensory perceptions. Even if he or she does not have any capacity to see, hear, smel...

I didn't say we can eliminate the idea of simulation. We could be aliens experiencing a simulation of what it is like to be a human on Earth. Death co...

Looks like I didn't understand him.

I was speaking about myself - not about a foetus. If I suddenly became unable to touch, smell, hear, taste and see I would still be able to think and ...

I don't know. I have never met a human without the capacity to touch, smell, hear, taste and see. If a zygote was so defective that the foetus did not...

How do you know this? Do you have any research that you can cite as evidence?

You are most welcome. Why would there be no self without sensory perception of the world? If I am unable to touch, smell, hear, taste and see would my...

Please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNvcy5LZPo where Elon Musk explains why he thinks we are living in a simulation. I don't agree with him.

Thank you very much for answering my questions and the link. I learned something new which is great. I far as I can tell, neither quantum mechanics no...

I am both a pragmatist and an empiricist. They are not mutually exclusive.

I am a pragmatist - no point wasting time on untestable ideas.

Yes, indeed.

We create simulated worlds e.g. in weather simulations and computer games. People have dreams and hallucinations. Visual illusions are also common. El...

It's ok. Please don't worry about it.

I don't understand what you are saying. Sorry. Please explain. Thank you.

Thank you.

The problem is that we don't have a Theory of Everything that unites the quantum world with the macroscopic world. We know that quantum decoherence oc...

It depends. If immaterial souls exist, and they are affected by genes, environments, nutrients, and experiences then the answer is no. I have never se...

Are you talking about the untestable hypothesis that our perceived world could be a simulation or hallucination or dream or illusion? Then they are un...

We don't know anything objectively. We may believe that we do but this is a delusion. Everything we know is subjective. There are two kinds of subject...

I agree with you partially. I know that my body has two legs, two hands, two eyes, one nose with two nostrils, two ears, etc. There may be a one-in-in...

Welcome to the forum. How would we discern whether or not an AI was conscious? We can't even discern which human is actually conscious and which human...

In the unlikely event that I am an immaterial soul experiencing the illusion of being in a physical body on a physical planet in a physical universe, ...

Yes, I understand what you mean by proving X means disproving not-X. Even in the unlikely event that my body and the universe are simulated, I still h...

Just because we can't predict something e.g. weather and earthquakes, etc. accurately it does not mean that they are not deterministic. I agree that t...

I agree with you. How would we figure out if hard determinism is true or not? Our choices are not free from determinants and constraints e.g. genes, e...

The list does not deal with simulation/hallucination/dream/illusion hypotheses as they can't be tested. Also, it is impossible to prove the non-existe...

It appears that I have a material body. It appears that we live in a material universe. If it were an illusion, we would expect it to appear as if it ...

When I say that I can prove trillions of things I mean things like: 1. If I hit the wall with my head it hurts my head. 2. Humans need oxygen to stay ...

Science-fiction is fun.

It's not possible to test that hypothesis. Haven't you read my other posts? Quoting myself:

I agree.

I agree.