Possibility

By ‘that God’, I was referring to our culpability, not to our importance or value. But as a statement taken out of context, I agree with your edits.

This is where the problem has been in this, and continues to be in many discussions about consciousness. The OP defined consciousness as ‘having exper...

I understand the resistance to this train of thought. It feels like such a slippery slope. And you’ve clearly pointed out that not every instance of s...

That depends on how you learn best, and your attitude toward the information you receive. Not everyone learns better the same way, and not everyone is...

‘God’ as a label is unnecessary. As a concept, God allows us to conceive of ‘self’ beyond our physical existence: as encompassing all aspects of the u...

You seem to make a marked distinction between ‘me’ and ‘my brain’, as if they were two separate entities. How do you justify this, and what do you thi...

For the record, this is a poor justification for insistence on brief and plain language. Clearly we are not attempting to explain this to a six year o...

Based on a definition of experience as ‘an event or occurrence which leaves an impression on someone’, it’s a reasonable and justifiable assumption th...

That depends how you approach the concept of God. Deists see no need to worship or interact with God personally because ‘his’ involvement in the unive...

Ok then - I’ll rephrase the question: Given that an experience is defined as ‘practical contact with and observation of facts or events’ or ‘an event ...

Humans have developed the capacity to quantify, measure and evaluate information in relation to other information. With this capacity, we evaluate eve...

‘As humans understand them’ - this is where your problem is. My definition of ‘sense’ is from the Oxford dictionary. Your anthropocentrism is getting ...

In Australia, groundwater makes up approximately 17 per cent of accessible water resources and accounts for over 30 per cent of our total water consum...

LOL - I probably asked for that one. FWIW, I don’t believe a rock as such is conscious, neither do I believe it can evolve. By evolution, I don’t mean...

A ‘sense’ is the faculty by which a body receives an external stimulus. A ‘response’ is the reaction to that stimulus. Just because it isn’t processed...

Alright then, let’s go back a step or two... I can see how this makes sense for you. It’s hard to believe an organism can be conscious if it can’t fee...

It only seems close to personifying from your perspective, in which only persons have experiences. But try to keep an open mind. A Roomba has a centra...

So, do you believe that consciousness simply appeared as it is, or developed from something simpler? Bacteria have the capacity to sense their proximi...

Do you believe that a rock molecule has the capacity to receive an isolated bit of information from its environment (eg temperature change, directiona...

That’s because you view survival as the ultimate success. In your view, then, humans - as soft, porous-skinned creatures with over-developed informati...

From Laudato Si’ (2015):

I think the problem with evolutionary theory is that it assumes chance and survival are the only determining factors in evolution. But it then struggl...

And I’m not one of them. The way I see it, there is a difference between participation in events and mental perception. With quantum physics and proce...

You seem reluctant to explore this unity or interconnection beyond the scope of ‘conscious’ individuals - in which case I agree with TS that you’re fu...

When you say ‘have experiences’, can I assume you mean ‘be aware that you are having experiences’? Experience itself, or participation in events, is n...

You misunderstand me. It isn’t for me to judge - it’s for him to question. If your focus is only on helping the person suffer less, regardless of whet...

This is where I think we differ, because when I talk about questioning the assumption that he deserves to have a woman who loves him and wants to star...

You’re still assuming that ‘the life they want’ is also what they deserve and what is necessary. If the young man wants ‘the whole thing, the intimacy...

I agree with your indictment of the pharmaceutical industry, and the educational, financial and even patient pressure on mental health professionals t...

The way I see it, the problem is not so much that uninformed and ignorant people are allowed to vote - good luck rescinding that right without violenc...

I guess it depends on what values/properties you focus on. In assigning values to everything, it seems we can always focus on whatever value hierarchi...

No. You can experience lack without a desire for what is perceived to be lacking. I experience a lack of height every time I walk around in public, bu...

I think it’s important to understand that pain, loss/lack and humility/humiliation are the experiences where suffering occurs, and that these experien...

This is why I initially use the experience of ‘loss’ in relation to suffering - because people feel compelled by reason to attribute an experience of ...

When humans are diagnosed with kidney failure, we have options such as kidney transplant and dialysis. I’m wondering if anyone knows the reason these ...

I’m not sure that I follow how this comment relates. In my view there is a difference between everyone pursuing our own needs as a priority, and the b...

This is an experience of lack, which I did mention in my original post in tandem with loss. Lack is a more accurate and inclusive description of the e...

Perhaps the good of our existence is found in chasing awareness and interconnectedness, and in fulfilling the overall potential of the universe. We sh...

I want to clear up a few general assumptions here, if I may. But first I will explain that I’m speaking specifically about catholic schools in Austral...

There can also be grapes without merlot, but can there be merlot without grapes? I’m not saying that pain, loss and humiliation are the ‘root causes’ ...

Thanks for your response - it’s reassuring to hear that someone follows the way I see this issue. I have done a lot of thinking on this subject, so I’...

Here’s an interesting thing about suffering in terms of pain, loss and humility: there can be no process of life without experiencing all three. There...

Marriage is a commitment to mating for life - if it were biological, we wouldn’t need divorce. Love is doing what I can to enable another to do what t...

The way I see it, both religion and science operate on two main levels: there is an easily accessible level, which is underdeveloped and based on old ...

That suffering can be controlled?

I don’t believe a rock is conscious, BUT I do think that there is some degree of consciousness at a molecular and/or perhaps even subatomic level. Whi...

The way I see it, it is how people relate to their desire/attachment - and the experiences of pain, humiliation and loss that come from that relations...

I’ve been thinking outside the box on this concept of ‘suffering’ from a number of different angles recently, and I’ve noticed a few things. First of ...

You seem to base your reasoning on this observation, but how are you so sure the statement is true? Can you be certain that what you see is all there ...

Can we explain what this concept we call potential energy is and where it comes from? We can observe evidence of the impact (energy) it can have on th...