From: Marc Geddes (marc_geddes@yahoo.co.nz)
Date: Fri Jul 29 2005 - 04:07:02 MDT
>
> How is it that materialists can justify their
> truths? Is it practical
> verifiability of predictions? If so, then we can
> clearly not come to a
> good conclusion about minds and brains - it is
> simple *bad science* to
> conclude from our current state of knowledge that
> minds are reducible
> to predictable models in terms of our existing
> physics. If it is the
> in-principle verifiability of predictions, then we
> clearly have
> excellent reasons to doubt the quality of our
> existing physics.
>
> Adopting a materialist position which denies the
> value of qualia seems
> to me to be simple stupidity, or perhaps at best
> gullibility.
>
> Cheers,
> -T
>
I think all the confusion over this stems from the
fact that materialists make the mistake of thinking
that matter consists of 'solid things out there'.
Instead of thinking of matter as being 'out there', it
is much better to think of 'matter' as being a
'cognitive interpretation' given to reality. There
*is* an objective reality out there, but I think it's
just binary math: 0's and 1's. In order to perceive
these 0's and 1's as 'matter', a mind has to apply a
'cognitive interpretation' to the meanings of the 0's
and 1's. So 'matter' emerges from a two-way
interaction between the binary math of objective
reality and the cognitive interpretation of the 0's
and 1's applied by sentient observers.
Materialism is a *universal* but NOT an *exclusive*
description of reality. It is simply a 'universal
mode of cognition' (see above).
By re-interpreting the meaning of the 0's and 1's of
objective reality, a sentient could equally view
everything as 'quale' (panpsychism).
Qualia are just as real as matter. Neither qualia or
matter is fundamental. They are cognitive
interpretations of reality. The actual fundamental
stuff of objective reality is just binary math like
this:
00010001011110001010100101001010101010
Quale and matter are simply different but equally
valid mental interpretations of this raw data stream.
--- Please vist my website: http://www.riemannai.org Science, Sci-Fi and Philosophy --- THE BRAIN is wider than the sky, For, put them side by side, The one the other will include With ease, and you beside. -Emily Dickinson 'The brain is wider than the sky' http://www.bartleby.com/113/1126.html Send instant messages to your online friends http://au.messenger.yahoo.com
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