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Gnomon

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Sorry to butt-in again . . . . but that is exactly the point of my Enformationism thesis. I didn't set-out to prove or disprove the existence of God. ...
June 11, 2021 at 16:49
Sorry to butt-in again . . . . but that is exactly the point of my Enformationism thesis. I didn't set-out to prove or disprove the existence of God. ...
June 10, 2021 at 22:45
Yes. It's my "pet" Thesis, and the foundation of my personal Worldview, which I am developing into a more complete philosophical theory. According to ...
June 10, 2021 at 17:42
Sorry to butt-in, but . . . TMF was probably referring to the intelligence behind long-term plans (teleology) instead of short-term utility calculatio...
June 10, 2021 at 00:51
Yes. Like those pioneers of queer Quantum theory, serious scientists have been working, since the turn of a new century, on a plausible theory to expl...
June 10, 2021 at 00:38
As a philosophical worldview, regarding our fellow humans as possessing "intrinsic value" is what makes the difference between love & tolerance for ou...
June 09, 2021 at 17:07
Yes. But the Enformationism worldview provides a novel vocabulary to explain that vital distinction : the difference that makes a difference to sentie...
June 09, 2021 at 01:32
I've noticed that a significant number of posters on The Philosophy Forum seem to be embarrassed by Philosophy as a discipline, because it studies thi...
June 09, 2021 at 01:20
Sure. But how does it do it? How does a jello-like mass of electrical & chemical wiring convert incoming energy into Perception, and thence into Conce...
June 08, 2021 at 18:05
I read "philosophy of mind" and "neuroscience" all the time. But Physicalist explanations always seem to teeter on the edge of the old Cartesian duali...
June 07, 2021 at 18:03
And that similar substance is . . . . ? Materialists have no explanation for real-ideal phenomena, such as Perception. Can a rock perceive? Does matte...
June 07, 2021 at 00:26
I understand your skepticism of much "science of mind", which strays into woo territory. For example, Parapsychologists tend to view the mind (Psi) as...
June 06, 2021 at 18:07
I'm not an expert on Kant or Plato. But I would hazard to say that Kant's Noumena is equivalent to Plato's Ideal. However, the Ontology of those terms...
June 05, 2021 at 16:59
Now that is a problem of centralized government that could, and should, be alleviated, if not eliminated. I've long thought that a rule-of-law should ...
June 04, 2021 at 17:11
Yes. But I was talking about the fact that Meta-physics is the study of non-physical ideas, such as "Zero". Physicists can't experiment with "Zero", b...
June 04, 2021 at 16:58
In philosophical discussions, it usually helps to narrow the range of responses by defining primary terms. In this case, the core problem to be addres...
June 03, 2021 at 17:49
Yes! Consciousness is meaningless without a Self-concept. And that's why Physics without Meta-physics will never understand the human mind. Yes, again...
June 03, 2021 at 16:53
I appreciate that Tononi began with abstract mathematical Information as fundamental, and derived human-like Consciousness as an emergent phenomenon. ...
June 02, 2021 at 16:31
I read the book. And I suspect that Adams wrote with tongue-in-cheek. The God's Debris hypothesis has some things in common with PanTheism and PanEnDe...
June 02, 2021 at 16:26
The book referenced is Consciousness -Information-Reality, by James Glattfelder. Since he covers a lot of ground in the early chapters, they are neces...
June 01, 2021 at 17:37
The defining context for "metaphysical speculation" is the contrast between Subjective and Objective Reality. Those who label metaphysical topics as "...
June 01, 2021 at 17:15
Analysis of language is indeed a legitimate topic for philosophy. But if that language is too specific & reductive, we soon lose the general & holisti...
May 31, 2021 at 17:54
It was not the intent of my post to imply that Philosophers have "special knowledge" that Scientists don't. Just the opposite : I was noting that when...
May 31, 2021 at 17:21
I prefer to define the term "metaphysics" to describe the subject matter of Aristotle's second volume of his post-iron-age encyclopedia of knowledge -...
May 30, 2021 at 17:52
Apparently, you feel that humans are essentially good, and it's merely unfortunate circumstances that make them "break bad". I optimistically tend to ...
May 29, 2021 at 18:08
That's exactly my understanding of Consciousness, as the Metaphysical Function of the physical Brain. Minding is what the Brain does. But the "atoms" ...
May 29, 2021 at 17:16
The total freedom of the human Will may indeed be an aspiration of those who look forward to The Singularity, or to the Apotheosis (deification) of Hu...
May 29, 2021 at 16:52
I suppose that's why some people find Science to be "cold" : it doesn't understand the significance of metaphysical "warmth", as opposed to physical H...
May 29, 2021 at 16:24
No, that's a "strawman", as you like to say. When I describe Information as both physical and metaphysical, I mean exactly that. In its physical forms...
May 28, 2021 at 22:07
The positive, forward-looking, progressive attitude of Science, stands in contrast to the ancient worldview of Fatalism. If humans are merely pawns of...
May 28, 2021 at 18:01
Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky, in their book, Thinking, Fast & Slow, described the function of Emotions in terms that don't demean them as "irratio...
May 28, 2021 at 17:28
Your reductive attitude toward "thoughts" seems to be similar to that of B.F. Skinner's "radical behaviorism", back in the stone-age of psychology. It...
May 28, 2021 at 17:03
Metaphysics is "imaginary". That's the whole point. The term pertains to subjective Ideality, which is the worldview that exists in your imagination. ...
May 28, 2021 at 16:30
Metaphysics is "imaginary". That's the whole point. The term pertains to subjective Ideality, which is the worldview that exists in your imagination. ...
May 27, 2021 at 17:58
So you still believe that "information is completely physical"? If so, what kind of material is it made of? And what does Consciousness consist of : a...
May 26, 2021 at 16:47
Sorry about that! When I started to reply yesterday, I found that the previous day's reply was already in the comment box, and the only option was to ...
May 25, 2021 at 18:04
Yes, but this is not a science or nature forum. Our interests here include what is known via the scientific method, but are not limited to the physica...
May 24, 2021 at 17:37
I was responding to this quote : My understanding of 'information' is completely physical, and not "ideal" (or platonic) in any significant sense. — 1...
May 24, 2021 at 16:51
I was responding to this quote : My understanding of 'information' is completely physical, and not "ideal" (or platonic) in any significant sense. — 1...
May 23, 2021 at 18:04
Yes. That seems to be the key difference in our views. But the notion that "Information is physical" would have been ridiculed in the centuries before...
May 22, 2021 at 17:50
Unfortunately for you, Enformationism is fundamentally & literally Idealistic, and both Physical & Metaphysical. But, it's based on the cutting-edge s...
May 21, 2021 at 17:26
Is that a fact -- or an opinion? :wink:
May 20, 2021 at 22:47
I apologize for accusing you of a reductionist worldview. From a brief review of the link, it seems that Cosmological Holism is technically similar, i...
May 20, 2021 at 22:45
"The only problem with his 17th century equation is that in order to explain the 20th century Big Bang, "god or nature" must have existed prior to the...
May 20, 2021 at 21:43
You and TMF seem to be talking past each other, as is common on this forum. Your perspective seems to be scientific & reductive, while his is philosop...
May 20, 2021 at 17:05
Unfortunately, the teleological interpretation of evolution is far from being scientifically confirmed, and is currently being hotly debated. Just typ...
May 19, 2021 at 22:51
Unfortunately, the teleological interpretation of evolution is far from being scientifically confirmed, and is currently being hotly debated. Just typ...
May 19, 2021 at 17:33
Unfortunately, the people you are "reasoning" with do not accept the premise that Evolution is non-random and actually progressive -- moving toward so...
May 18, 2021 at 18:06
You say that like being human is a bad thing. Are you a misanthrope? I'm kidding. I know what you mean. But, just as rational thinking doesn't come ea...
May 18, 2021 at 17:28
Yes. The selection process is "natural". But how did the criteria for those automatic choices arise in Nature? Darwin saw an analogy between human sel...
May 18, 2021 at 17:01