From: David Musick (David_Musick@msn.com)
Date: Fri Sep 27 1996 - 17:35:16 MDT
Eric Watt Forste wrote:
"So I suppose I'm actually agreeing with Eugene. He seems to think that there
is no point to elaborating the objective/subjective boundary."
I also agree that there is no point in elaborating the objective/subjective
boundry, because I think the objective/subjective dichotomy is a ridiculous
one to make. In my arrogant opinion, everything is objective. Even our
thoughts are objective; they are actually happening. My feelings are
objective; I am actually feeling emotions. That which we call our subjective
experience is a *part* of the objective world, not something in *opposition*
to the objective world. The subjective is a subset of the objective; it's not
the opposite of the objective.
And this doesn't mean that objective reality is whatever we think it to be,
but it does mean that our fantasies and imagination are objective, in the
sense that they are actually occuring inside our own heads. It doesn't mean
that our fantasies and imaginations will actually have any _literal_ effect on
the world beyond our bodies, unless we use our bodies to carry out our
fantasies, by doing it ourself or communicating our ideas to others (machines
or humans) who then carry out our fantasies for us.
Again, the objective/subjective dichotomy is simply another invention of
humans to irrationally place themselves in a realm outside the effects of the
real world, to somehow separate themselves from objective reality. It's
amazing how stubborn that type of thinking is; it shows up all over the place,
in many different disguises.
Now, I'm not saying that there is no subjective world; there certainly is;
there are many billions of subjective worlds; I'm only saying that the
subjective is not located in any magical fairy land; it's in our own heads,
and all our experiences are parts of a much vaster, objective world.
The objective world is simply all that which exists, that which is actual.
Our subjective experiences exist; we are actually experiencing (in fact, this
is all we really know for sure -- that we are experiencing; everything else is
inferred from our experiences). Therefore, our subjective experiences are
part of the objective world, and for us they're the only part of the objective
world that we really know about, for certain.
- David Musick
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