enqramot

Thanks.

Right, so I'm a time waster, aren't I?

I believe that when I observe something it’s not possible to say whether it exists or not. I believe in a dynamic stream of information that can be ca...

The fact that everything in YOUR world is reduced to brain events doesn’t preclude independent existence of a parallel world that exists in another re...

What is a brain? A physical object we are told is responsible for our awareness of the underlying reality. I cannot verify any of this, of course. But...

I feel that descriptions such as: internal, external, real, imaginary etc. are purely arbitrary and used to make sense of the surrounding ocean of inf...

no worries, just joking

I think Socrates and other philosophers have already covered the problem of "The Qatar World Cup" in depth, and frankly, I can't think what else I cou...

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to say but will try to respond anyway. It seems there are 2 versions of your uncle. 1) The real uncle - some k...

I take your word for it that you are in essence similar to me and not a binary machine or a zombie. I follow my instinct and "trust" that this is the ...

Are you suspecting that there's more to your uncle than a system of neuronal activity? I guess it will be damn hard to provide any scientific proof of...

Imagine yourself as an immortal person waking up in a coffin just about so big that you can lie and not even change your position. Welcome to eternity...

So, as I see it, philosophers take a "resolved question" and tackle at it a different angle thus being complementary to science. That would mean philo...

Yes, definitely there is some genuine need that religion responds to (which doesn't mean that as humanity progresses other, better ways of addressing ...

Thanks for clarification. I never suggested this to be a comprehensive explanation. I meant what I said to simply highlight one aspect which is import...

Care to justify your opinion?

I would say it's safe to disregard Anselm's proofs as complete nonsense, end of story. Playing with words cannot prove existence of God.

They rally around him like their religious leader. "Thou shalt not analyze my words against common sense!"

But maybe less of a prey to choose from? Stronger resistance?

Both. The mechanism is universal, of course, not restricted to religion. The more educated society, the less of an effect.

Let's stick to "consciousness" then :) I'd rather philosophy steered clear of questions already settled. The operational principle of AI is already kn...

I wanted to make a comment but realised that basically I agree with everything you said and have nothing meaningful to add at this time, so I'll leave...

Exactly, I can't fathom how such a test could be possible.

I honestly don't believe there are any credible theories in existence explaining phenomenon of consciousness. The science is completely in the dark in...

I'm not making such a premise, merely considering to what extent behaviour of a conscious being can be described in terms of computer code.

Sure, if we're talking about AI. But these are completely separate topics, AI and consciousness, and I was only considering whether one can emulate th...

I don't see either. Not in computers, that is. But the mechanism of it I find interesting in itself although I believe science is no closer to solving...

Maybe consciousness isn't the right word, maybe sentience would be, but the fundamental difference between computers and me is that I am alive and can...

Absolutely. Computers don't do consciousness and that's their advantage. But the nature of consciousness has eluded science for such a long time that ...

Good and long reply, but it's already 0230 local time so I'll take a stance tomorrow.

I heard this theory, but I must admit it doesn't really make any sense to me, tbh. I just can't see how increasing complexity can lead to anything oth...

No, I specifically meant church as an organization akin to mafia, imho. They got really rich, you know, especially in certain countries.

I tend to agree with you there. Sad but true.

Are we talking about the same wisdom that leads to persecution of gays, jews, representants of other faiths, atheists, women, requiring people to live...

I'm just proposing an explanation in the spirit of Ockham' Razor. When there's a very simple explanation of something right there in front of your eye...

Maybe one of these days I'll come across one of these explanations.

From wishful thinking perhaps?

*hypo

Say, God, for example. What would be good evidence. Therefore I don't have 'believe' in my vocabulary. I just have working hipotheses.

These things are so complex that the very idea of humans coming up with good evidence seems rather unrealistic.

And some of them, pretty uneducated or downright dodgy.

A Any theory will do, they're just theories, after all, just educated guesses.

Well, aside from subjective meanings any of us is free to derive, there may be a general purpose for which the whole system was put in place, and whic...

So, yeah, it's a kind of distraction.

Read your post too quickly.

Sorry, I mean in the same category.

Absolutely. Distraction is the only way as I see it.

When you build your life around passion(s), you tend to be too busy to notice that there's some meaninglessness running in the background. In other wo...

I fear you're asking the impossible here. It's like saying: "I'd very much like to believe in square wheels, I challenge anyone to show me one!" Nope,...

If only Dodo could be resurrected, I'm sure it could share some valuable insight into these problems. But first we'd need to learn to understand the D...