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Gnomon

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Presuppositions versus Potentialities Quote from Aristotle and Science thread : "In paper, three scientists argue that including “potential” things on...
July 29, 2021 at 22:14
Touche! You've made it murkily clear that, for you, there is no "substantive basis" for any ideas that don't fit into your subjective view of objectiv...
July 29, 2021 at 22:04
Yes. Hoffman is saying something much more significant and revealing than "subjective is not objective". :smile: The Case Against Reality : A professo...
July 29, 2021 at 21:52
Quasi- and Contra- are in the eye of the beholder. maybe what you mean is contra-180proof. I would call Hoffman's analogy of concepts with computer ic...
July 29, 2021 at 21:42
If the questions are misdirected, it's only because the target is fuzzy, or moving around. For example, what do you mean by "idealist (anti-realist, s...
July 29, 2021 at 17:16
That's a neat black & white worldview : " Idealism versus Realism". But is your world really that simplistic, and devoid of ideas about things that co...
July 29, 2021 at 00:04
No. I actually agree with you, that the job of science is to test & "prove" hypothetical (philosophical) conjectures & factoids, in order to turn them...
July 28, 2021 at 17:28
Yes. But, there is a wide range of those uncertain "overlaps" between "known" or "proven" facts, and "received opinions" or "heresies". The Scientific...
July 28, 2021 at 01:08
Yes, but the problem with any true/false dichotomy is "who says", and "whose facts". The current issue of SKEPTIC magazine has a Conspiracy Theory art...
July 28, 2021 at 00:06
That's why most of the assertions on a philosophy forum should be taken with a grain of salt. Unlike physical scientists, philosophers -- and theoreti...
July 27, 2021 at 17:49
The current issue of SKEPTIC magazine has an article debunking the modern-day belief that Giordano Bruno was a martyr to Science, as opposed to myth-b...
July 26, 2021 at 18:23
:up: We don't know the utter end of this ever-changing cosm, progressing by degrees from single spark to fathomless abyss, with sentient eyes always l...
July 26, 2021 at 17:31
The "belief" that Self is more important than Other seems to be inherent in how sentient beings perceive (awareness) their environment. All of our sen...
July 25, 2021 at 17:57
Any Self has special status in its own eyes. The fat cat purring in your lap may be thinking that you exist only to serve her own needs & purposes. An...
July 24, 2021 at 17:27
A pragmatic accommodation to that inherent weakness of top-down planned economies may be why China has quickly converted from a purely Socialist econo...
July 23, 2021 at 17:15
Again, you seem to be talking nonsense : "disorder that organizes". That paradoxical notion goes right over my pointy little head. It sounds like the ...
July 22, 2021 at 00:26
Oh! I thought you were proposing some novel form of energy. :smile:
July 20, 2021 at 17:49
I understand that you don't agree with my holistic & positive assessment of the direction of evolution. But how did you come-up with that Big Brother ...
July 20, 2021 at 17:47
My personal cosmology is just the opposite of maximizing Entropy. Instead, the universe seems to be gradually maximizing order and organization. But, ...
July 19, 2021 at 18:00
I just came across the term "phantom energy" which seems to be what you are talking about. If such inflationary energy actually existed, it would resu...
July 19, 2021 at 17:37
See my reply to for an introduction to Don Hoffman's answer to your question.
July 18, 2021 at 17:06
Don Hoffman was a close associate of Francis Crick, and they worked together for years. But Hoffman was a lot younger, and began to diverge from Crick...
July 18, 2021 at 17:01
FWIW, here's my blog review of Hoffman's book, and its thesis of Model Dependent Realism. Reality is not what you see : http://bothandblog6.enformatio...
July 17, 2021 at 17:20
It wasn't exactly a "claim", but just an observation. I don't know much about either theory. But after reading descriptions, the "principle" seemed to...
July 17, 2021 at 17:11
Again, I'm not qualified to comment on the mathematical or physical aspects of your proposed symmetrical relationship between Space & Time, or between...
July 16, 2021 at 17:47
Not necessarily new. I'm not a physicist, but I am interested in the symmetry between Energy & Entropy. Apparently, the universe began with all the en...
July 15, 2021 at 23:12
:up: As I see it, the Stoic ideal was a harmonious balance between the extremes of Spock Logic and Captain Kirk passion. It was the Cynics that tended...
July 13, 2021 at 16:39
I tend to equate the human science of Mathematics with knowledge of the Logical structure of the universe. In mathematical analysis, we are describing...
July 11, 2021 at 17:23
OK. You have made your semantic point. But my semantic point is that "Probability" is Virtual, not Actual ; Potential, not Real ; Future, not Here & N...
July 09, 2021 at 17:24
Those hypothetical dimensionless mathematical points do allow predictions that can be empirically tested. But the "objects" themselves are Theoretical...
July 09, 2021 at 17:15
Teleology is an inference from observation of tendencies in natural patterns. If you watch a landslide, the only "intention" (tendency) you will see i...
July 09, 2021 at 17:10
I respect Koch's authority in neuroscience, but I disagree with his philosophical interpretation of the universality of Consciousness**. That's becaus...
July 08, 2021 at 16:46
Exactly! According to Einstein, the potential energy of a rock (uranium for example) can be converted into actual energy by deconstructing (disintegra...
July 08, 2021 at 16:10
Yes. Virtual particles are theoretical objects that are used to make logical, not yet factual, predictions. Both the particles, and the prophesied fut...
July 08, 2021 at 16:04
I agree with last two assertions. But I think you are using the term "empirical" to mean "real", rather than "verifiable" or "testable". In definition...
July 08, 2021 at 15:55
Yes. Like Dark Matter, Virtual Particles are imaginary objects created from logical reasoning to explain otherwise puzzling empirical observations. An...
July 07, 2021 at 22:05
Yes. Your definition is broad enough to include almost anything that "processes" information, including a rock that absorbs radiant light energy, whic...
July 07, 2021 at 17:20
I think your "law of the universe" may be similar to my notion of EnFormAction. I didn't define it in terms of Self-Organization, but I suppose that's...
July 06, 2021 at 18:04
Mass is indeed a property of matter. But, in that stable form it is no longer the same as dynamic Energy. I like to think of Matter as a condensed for...
July 06, 2021 at 17:19
I am in general agreement with your assessment of Logic. But the quoted statement reminded me of the weird notion of Quantum Fields and Virtual Partic...
July 06, 2021 at 17:00
My understanding may be a little different, in that I would say that every thing and every process in the world is a form of Generic EnFormAction (the...
July 05, 2021 at 18:07
My philosophical understanding has been rapidly evolving since the core concept of the Enformationism Thesis occurred to me about 12 years ago. I cont...
July 04, 2021 at 17:36
OK. But it's the physics that's empirical, not the logical inferences. Logic is not a physical object, it's a mental process of making meaningful conn...
July 04, 2021 at 17:01
If you explained the meaning of "information integrates itself", I missed it. Would you run it by me again? Actually, I am both a Dualist and a Monist...
July 03, 2021 at 18:01
Yes. But I also use Realist arguments where appropriate. However, it's the Idealist notions that tend to inflame some posters on this forum. I coined ...
July 03, 2021 at 17:24
OK. What is mathematics made of? Is it a collection of discrete (quantum particles), or universal fluid substance of some kind? Or is mathematics a hu...
July 03, 2021 at 00:29
You're aware that the notion of a field is an imaginary mathematical construct, right? It's used like a matrix to organize abstractions into something...
July 03, 2021 at 00:01
That's my understanding, yes. They are figuratively waving, but in fact "blinking". That last part is my own interpretation. Does that notion make sen...
July 02, 2021 at 23:39
Yes. Logic and Physics are "correlated" in Carlo Rovelli's terms. But the relation is between physical instances and metaphysical generalities. If Log...
July 02, 2021 at 23:27
My point would be clearer to you, if you could see that Mind & Body appear different to the observer, even though they ultimately consist of the same ...
July 02, 2021 at 23:12