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Gnomon

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Thanks for your replies to the "fundamentality of Causation" and the "ambiguity of Energy" questions. So, now what do you think about the "many degree...
February 06, 2026 at 22:00
Well put! And I agree. Your fluent expression reminds me of Richard Feynman's counterintuitive notion that "light doesn't flow"*1. :smile: *1. Based o...
February 06, 2026 at 18:05
Since this is a philosophical forum, I'm more interested in the the metaphysical way philosophers use the term "Energy" than the physical way scientis...
February 06, 2026 at 17:51
I'm addressing this to you, because is not available to clarify a puzzling point*1 he made in response to my proposed definition : that Physical Energ...
February 05, 2026 at 18:27
Personally, I don't think digital computers are actually, or fully, sentient, but proving it one way or the other, would be difficult, and would depen...
February 01, 2026 at 18:13
Spiritual & mystical experiences used to be long-hard work --- prayer, meditation, mortification --- for those who wanted to "experience" God directly...
January 30, 2026 at 17:18
"Ineffable experiences"*1 used to be attributed to visitations from God or Holy Spirit, in a specific religious context : e.g. Catholic, Protestant, I...
January 29, 2026 at 18:16
I just came across another reference to the Consciousness transmitter/receiver notion of Noetics*1. Since I don't have a subscription, I couldn't read...
January 29, 2026 at 01:15
That claim seems to be based on a misapplication of Popper's Principle (or rule of thumb) of Falsifiability*1. Karl Popper concluded that humans --- b...
January 29, 2026 at 00:45
Biological brains "suck" at computing mathematical-logical answers (deterministically). But they are pretty good at creating tools to go beyond biolog...
January 27, 2026 at 22:20
Yes, the notion that human ideas are received from the Ether*1, instead of generated by the brain, is an interesting (strange) concept. But what philo...
January 25, 2026 at 17:57
That's a question you'll have to ask of the Programmer of the cosmic system*1. How is "success" defined? A.N. Whitehead's Process Philosophy emphasize...
January 24, 2026 at 17:31
Even though I'm an untrained amateur philosopher, I disagree to-some-degree with Chalmers about Consciousness being fundamental. God-like omniscience ...
January 23, 2026 at 23:02
Yes. As I said in the OP, I have difficulty making sense of the concept of the human brain as a receiver of consciousness. Even so, I'm currently read...
January 22, 2026 at 17:12
Post-Planck scale Cosmology : Since has temporarily retired from the philosophical wrestling arena of this forum, I'll address this post to you. That'...
January 21, 2026 at 18:12
I was an early untrained amateur adopter of desktop computers back in the late 1980s and early 90s. The brand name was Micron, a chip manufacturer, an...
January 19, 2026 at 22:48
Ironically, I originally got the idea, from your screenname Boundless, that our philosophical positions might be somewhat compatible, but then we seem...
January 19, 2026 at 02:47
The Planck scale was computed to establish the universe's minimum physical limit, beyond which material things can no longer be measured (i.e. informa...
January 19, 2026 at 00:40
"Scientific facts change because science is a dynamic process of discovery, not a static collection of absolute truths" 180woowoo is getting an ego-bo...
January 16, 2026 at 22:44
My point is not that potential EnFormAction (EFA) is thermodynamic Energy, but that Energy is merely one form of Universal Causation*1. which is an ab...
January 16, 2026 at 18:04
My definition of Energy : A. not a tangible material substance B. postulated immaterial causal force C. that can have detectable (actual) effects in t...
January 15, 2026 at 18:11
I apologize for double-posting, but 's critique of my analogous comparison of scientific physical Energy with philosophical metaphysical Causation, an...
January 15, 2026 at 00:41
What "re-defined facts" are you referring to? Boundless is quibbling about the equation of Energy and Information*1, which is not my redefinition, but...
January 14, 2026 at 17:36
So, you think a Philosophy Forum is not a "proper context" for discussing Scientific terms? Or, to put it differently, that Science and Philosophy are...
January 13, 2026 at 22:13
Do I need to remind you that this is a Philosophy Forum, not a Physics Seminar? Philosophy deals with Meaning & Metaphor, while Physics is supposed to...
January 12, 2026 at 22:10
Yes. Physicalists are aware that material bodies have immaterial functions (processes), such as Life & Mind. But they view the real Matter as fundamen...
January 11, 2026 at 18:12
When I said that Mind is what the Brain does, thinking & feeling, I was taking a Functionalist stance instead of a Substance position on the Hard Prob...
January 10, 2026 at 22:36
Yes. That something added back-in, on top of what actually is (from a divine objective perspective), is the seeming of human inference. Steven Hawking...
January 10, 2026 at 18:33
Maybe the difference, between your concept of Time, and Wayfarer's, can be demonstrated in a poster's screen-name : Esse quam videri*1 (to be rather t...
January 09, 2026 at 23:16
So you do distinguish between the material (plastic) and it's function (bottle). Materialism does try to "reduce" mind (function) to brain (matter). B...
January 09, 2026 at 18:34
This will be an interesting thread, but I doubt that it will lead to a true or false conclusion. That's because human language is intrinsically materi...
January 08, 2026 at 18:21
So you don't distinguish between the living and thinking aspects of your being? Do you think you are all Mind, or all Body? The all-body view, with Mi...
January 07, 2026 at 18:02
The hardware/software metaphor --- figure of speech --- for the human brain/mind is intended to evoke similarity, not sameness or identity. I did not ...
January 06, 2026 at 18:03
In a technical "scientistic" context, computer software does not work like the human mind. But in a philosophical (metaphorical) context, the human mi...
January 05, 2026 at 18:03
Nor am I. But the 17th century Enlightenment revolution (Age of Reason) tried to draw a hard line between rational Science & emotional Religion, betwe...
January 04, 2026 at 18:00
Again, you seem to be afraid of crossing the Enlightenment line between Science and Religion. But Philosophy is similar to Religion only in its focus ...
January 03, 2026 at 18:12
Have you ever looked at the concept of Energy from a philosophical perspective? You ought to try it sometimes. It might broaden your understanding of ...
January 02, 2026 at 18:04
As you say, I'm "reading" Energy" in a "Metaphysical way" instead of a Physical way. If this was a Physics forum, that interpretation --- as a non-phy...
January 01, 2026 at 22:40
This is a philosophy forum, not a physics seminar. So why not reify that which is invisible & intangible? Energy is a non-thing concept, it's a knowab...
December 31, 2025 at 17:53
According to the Buddha, my Reality is an Illusion based on a misinterpretation. Presumably, the Reductionism of modern Science constructs an illusory...
December 30, 2025 at 23:06
Yes. Energy is the cause of physical change, while material particles are the things that are in flux. Change >>> Time ; Matter >>> Space. The initial...
December 30, 2025 at 17:39
misinterpreted my reference to Energy as a "postulated force"*1, analogous to "spiritual energy"*2. That was not intended as a religious assertion, bu...
December 29, 2025 at 18:04
My point was that Energy is logically inferred, not physically observed. I was not implying that it is not a real phenomenon. But over many centuries,...
December 28, 2025 at 18:09
My comment was a response to your post about philosophical notions on the Reality vs Ideality of Potential vs Actual*1. I was simply referring to a co...
December 27, 2025 at 18:25
No. It doesn't make sense to me. That's why I posted the reference to Noetics (study of sentience & intellect) in the OP. I was hoping that someone el...
December 24, 2025 at 17:16
Yes. I suppose it's accounting for physical changes that would otherwise seem like magic. Give it a mundane name, and it sounds more technical, and se...
December 23, 2025 at 22:48
Yes. In modern physics, Energy is considered a real thing even though it's knowable only in its effects, not in its material substance. Energy as pote...
December 23, 2025 at 16:31
I'll have to admit that Aristotle's definition of a Soul is not clear to me. But it reminds me of similar definitions of Energy as the capacity or abi...
December 22, 2025 at 17:27
Most of the posts on this thread seem to be various philosophical opinions favoring either traditional Idealism (transcendentalism) or Realism (immane...
December 21, 2025 at 22:49
Aristotle distinguished between Soul & Body, just as he made a distinction between abstract Form & concrete Matter. The quote doesn't say this specifi...
December 21, 2025 at 18:01