I'm surprised. Maybe I wasn't paying close attention to what you have written. I thought we were talking about the hard problem of consciousness - the...
The governments of Europe opened their borders to refugees from the Syrian civil war. If my memory is correct, about a million. The migration has had ...
Pointless? I don't know about that, but you're opening up a discussion that's much broader than this one. When push comes to shove, Descartes was righ...
When a person becomes a person is a matter of convention. Some thoughts: Black people used to be considered 3/5 of a person. Or was it 2/3. It says "W...
I don't know if you've seen them, but there are lots of discussions on the forum about anti-natalism. "On Anti-natalism" is currently on the front pag...
To me, this is completely wrong. Backwards. Metaphysics provides the rules for the application of human conventions of knowledge to the world. It make...
I've spent some time thinking about this. To me, epistemology is part of metaphysics. If you look up definitions, it's about 50/50 whether others agre...
Just to make sure I understand - you think that consciousness rising up out of brain function is fundamentally different in kind than life rising up o...
The idea of falsification is not science, it's metaphysics. The scientific method is metaphysics. Induction is metaphysics. If math has no content, no...
I agree. A lot of scientists and mathematicians believe that the universe is mathematical, and not in a metaphorical way. Mistaking the map for the te...
This brings to mind a relevant quote from Stephen Jay Gould that I've always loved: “In science, ‘fact’ can only mean ‘confirmed to such a degree that...
In the context of my approach to knowledge - justification takes in to account certainty, benefits, negative consequences) - then negative evidence is...
As I've said, I think you also have to take the consequences of failure into account. If the decision is who has to wash the dishes, who really cares....
Well.... Two thoughts - First, I don't really like a numerical calculation like this for decision making, although it is not uncommon in my line of wo...
Sure. The ambiguity is part of the fun and the power of language. In the context of this discussion, what's important is that the posters make sure we...
Environmental engineers apply technology to implement the laws and regulations that reflect environmental policy. I have opinions on what the appropri...
One can know what the consequences of of a decision will be before the fact better than we currently do, it just takes more work and attention. It cos...
Your definition doesn't say "the un-observable, personal experience of a person's awareness or perception of something." It's perfectly possible to ta...
I've been looking for the specific reference in Alan Watts I mentioned. Still not sure it's Watts. It's got me rereading "Nature Man and Woman." I'll ...
That just underlines what I wrote previously - Knowledge only really has meaning in the context of a decision and no one can say knowledge is adequate...
What do you disagree with? That calling something a mystery will make people evaluate it differently than if it's just everyday old normal stuff? That...
Yes. Exactly. I'm an environmental engineer. My job is to know stuff, know how I know it, know how well I know it, and figure out what to do with that...
Has anyone ever discovered anything that didn't go on to have any practical consequences? Can something really be knowledge if it has no interaction o...
I thought I did. In summary again - the words "knowledge" and "know" have no useful meaning if knowledge always has to be true. The only thing that re...
I don't get it. The universe is chock full of stuff we don't understand. Is that surprising? No, it's a big place. We're just getting started. We have...
Of course looking at brain activity associated with conscious experience is "looking at consciousness." Consciousness is something other than personal...
I remember when I tripped over a paper on justified true belief (JTB) a few years. I couldn't believe that someone, a professional philosopher, could ...
It's not just word play. It has significant consequences. If you call something a mystery, you treat it differently than if it were just unknown. I th...
I've been thinking about this. I really like your formulation, but I think you've broadened the discussion to a point where it isn't reality about mea...
I see, but I don't think I agree, at least not in the context of this forum. I want to try this again. What does "meaning" mean? Meaning is a mental r...
That's not true. We have an idea of various animals that might have it. Again, it's unknown, not mysterious. None of this makes any sense to me unless...
As a self-identified lazy person, I can't help thinking that the complications are in the way we ask our questions, not in the underlying nature of me...
I left this out of my last response. It's getting late. Natural predisposition? Maybe. I'm not a believer in any specific God, but it seems to me that...
I like the way you write and your thoughtfulness. Your depth of knowledge is impressive, but I can't help think your way of seeing things makes someth...
"Meaning" is just a loosey-goosey word for I don't really know the fuck what. And no, it hasn't been defined in any way that allows a clear understand...
Yes, exactly! And No, completely!!! I'm saying, again, I'm not sure, that "meaning" means words. Paintings are not insignificant, or unimportant, they...
Yes, @"S" and I are close personal friends. And yes, he is a piece of shit. Although, in this situation, I'm not sure how that matters. I don't questi...
I disagree. Again, it's nothing mysterious. It's only not fully understood. The scientific tools for looking at it closely are relatively new. Our sel...
Yes, that's what I was trying to say, although I was also whining in frustration that poor definition of terms has made this discussion less productiv...
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