Signal Grounding Problem https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbol_grounding_problem In the NYT opinion piece that @"Wayfarer" linked, Nagel pointed out ...
While I do think that a concept itself can 'exist physically' inside a single head, I also think you bring up a good point that a concepts real utilit...
After reading Nagel's argument, I'm skeptical. I see consciousness as an emergent phenomenon (he uses the term fluke) of complex life so it is hard fo...
Those are two big unqualified assumptions. I'm guessing that is not a direct Nagel quote. --Nagel? I have heard the human brain described as the most ...
` To recap. My point in the OP was that concepts (even concepts involving truths, numbers and fictional things) exist in physical form inside our head...
@"Wayfarer" Yes, it is complicated. It is much easier to talk of some God shaping us into being over a few days than to wrap our heads around a natura...
Rather than paraphrase Nick Lane, I'll quote him from "Life Ascending, The Ten Great Inventions of Evolution." When I use the word invention to descri...
“It does not mean that the hardware we use was not invented through evolution.” — Read Parfit Webster Dictionary: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dict...
Nothing is perfect, but in my view science is the best ‘umpire of reality’ if you mean accurate reference for ‘how nature works.’ I can broadly be des...
@"apokrisis" Theoretically, as thinking creatures we are able to physically manipulate components in our brains so that they abstractly map to somethi...
The argument I am making in the OP is that concepts in our brain deserve the ontological status of physically existing. We do not question whether mar...
@"apokrisis" After a few days of digesting your post, combined with some internet searches, I think I now understand you points. My motivation for the...
I expect science will figure out many more specific details related to the physical processes behind how our brains work. They already have crude devi...
While studying this question I ran across Parfit who argues, roughly, that human thoughts (where our math, morality and fiction are developed) map to ...
Parfit argues that we can ask if claims are compatible with the laws of nature.— Read Parfit Yes, the laws of nature are a human construct, but that d...
@"Wayfarer" In the Feser quote you posted, he asserts that “thoughts and the like cannot possibly be identified with brain processes.”. He theorized t...
I find it a little embarrassing for you that you deny that lipids can spontaneously from in the right conditions— Read Parfit If you want evidence of ...
I think the facts support my assertion that lipids spontaneously form in the right conditions like those that exist in a alkaline hydrothermal vent. —...
@MU I'm not gonna lie, I meant to refer to molecular forces, which, no doubt, are influenced by atomic forces. I'm obviously not a chemistry expert. R...
Have we put to bed the issue of whether lipids and lipid membranes can spontaneously form in the right conditions through atomic forces? — Read Parfit...
Have we put to bed the issue of whether lipids and lipid membranes can spontaneously form in the right conditions through atomic forces? As for the bo...
I’ll take your moving the label “magic” from spontaneous membrane formation to spontaneous lipid formation as a small amount of progress :) Of course,...
Yes, and I thought your use of the word "magical" was an attempt to substitute sarcasm for an actual counter argument.— Read Parfit Your use of the wo...
I think I owe Wayfarer a response on this subject a few pages back. Regardless, I don’t think you are going to get to a “must” in D from “non-physical...
Logically, C could be tossed. Whether or not something is “well known” does not make it true or false, and we have already established a physical body...
Okay, here is a breakdown of your argument: A) The living physical body came into existence as an organized structure. B) Therefore the "organizer" pr...
By “the living body” do you mean the first living bodies? By that I mean bacteria and their predecessors existing ~3 billion years ago? I will give yo...
Not an expert here. My understanding is that time does not have to be a "thing" for matter to confirm to the second law of thermodynamics. Time is sim...
I was not aware of his new book. Thanks! There is no logical “need” to conclude the existence of “non-physical” entities being the cause of physical a...
Fossil and biological evidence show that we slowly evolved from bacteria over millions of years. While there are still details to fill in related to a...
I have enjoyed this conversation. I think your assumption that a soul is a separate entity is an error that makes further conclusions based on the ass...
“The article you referred describes the chemical composition of DNA, and the duplication of genetic material, it does not describe what created it, or...
In my last post to you I gave you two examples (Monads and shitting in the street) of how an absurd preference could lead to an absurd thesis. In a ph...
“Evolution accounts for the creation of gene expression. Phosphodiester and hydrogen bonds are examples of expression between the handful of molecules...
“You use soul as a metaphor for chemical reactions behind gene expression?” — Read Parfit Evolution accounts for the creation of gene expression. Phos...
“What I've observed is philosophy can be essentially divided into opposing concepts. For every thesis there's an antithesis. The interesting thing is ...
I find this definition unhelpful. Electromagnetic waves were physical before we knew about them. In my view it is clearer to refer to 'known' and 'unk...
Parfit defends a narrow and wide ontological sense in relation to abstract concepts like math, truths and possibilities. Take the statement: “(R) if i...
Right, math and logic rules have been shown to be compatible with how nature work, which separates these concepts from other creations of the human mi...
My view is that math and logical truths originated (at least on earth) as physical constructs in our ancestors minds because we both possessed the men...
"Read Parfit, hence cometh Kantian reasoning. It's the act, not the outcome. It's the orientation, the lack of good will, that makes an act unethical....
“My view of immorality is very straight forward and easy to understand. Everything that is immoral, i.e., all immorality involves harm in some fashion...
You write: “Morality was designed with the needs of the group in mind. Morality was not designed with the needs of the individual in mind. The reason ...
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