On Tue, Mar 1, 2022 at 9:10 AM Jason Resch <[email protected]> wrote:
> On Tue, Apr 27, 2021 at 8:33 AM Telmo Menezes <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Am Mo, 26. Apr 2021, um 17:16, schrieb John Clark: >> >> On Mon, Apr 26, 2021 at 10:45 AM Terren Suydam <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> >> > It's impossible to refute solipsism >> >> >> True, but it's equally impossible to refute the idea that everything >> including rocks is conscious. And if both a theory and its exact opposite >> can neither be proven nor disproven then neither speculation is of any >> value in trying to figure out how the world works. >> >> >> When I was a little kid I would ask adults if rocks were conscious. They >> tried to train me to stop asking such questions, because they were worried >> about what other people would think. To this day, I never stopped asking >> these questions. I see three options here: >> >> (1) They were correct to worry and I have a mental issue. >> >> (2) I am really dumb and don't see something obvious. >> >> (3) Beliefs surrounding consciousness are socially normative, and asking >> question outside of such boundaries is a taboo. >> >> > Consider the case where a god-like super intelligence for fun decided to > wire up everything experienced by a particular rock during its billion year > existence. All the light that fell on the rock's face, that super being > could see, all the accelerations it underwent, it could feel. During this > rock's history, it came to the surface in the 1800s, and then a house was > built not far from where you grew up. One day you notice and decide to kick > this rock, and the super being who chose to experience everything this > particular rock felt, feels the kick. > > In a way, this god-like being has connected through nerves which are > invisible to you (via its perfect knowledge of the history of this rock) to > its brain. But these connections, though invisible, are no less real or > concrete than the nerves that connect your hand to your brain. This super > being might exist at a level outside our universe (e.g. in the universe > running the simulation of this one). > > Ought we to conclude from this possibility that there is no way, even in > principle, to detect which objects are capable of perceiving? That there is > no way to know which objects happen to be imbued with consciousness, even > for something that seems as inanimate and inert as a rock? > > You asked great questions. > If you believe in magic, anything is possible., and no questions have definite answers. Bruce -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLSm7ObnZf5rghtYgGoqCsSfG36tYAN%3D4FwidHPZCj1kOw%40mail.gmail.com.
