Hi Ham, - > [Ham said]: > > So perhaps, instead of asking "Does time exist?" we should start > > by asking "Do WE exist?" > > [Platt asks]: > > Could you ask the question if you didn't exist? > > I could not ask the question without a body, if "asking" means writing or > verbalizing it. However, pondering the question requires only my > intellectual awareness. The intellectual function requires a working > central nervous system which is my organic counterpart but not my awareness > itself.
You could not ask the question without the existence of a functioning intellect. Asking meaningful questions presupposes the existence of not just a central nervous system, but a human mind. (Robots need not apply being creatures of mind.) > The question then is: What is meant by "the real me"? > > If the real me is that biological object by whose physical identity and > behavior you identify Ham Priday, it exists. On the other hand, if the > real me is my subjective awareness -- my self-consciousness -- it is known > only to me and has no objective existence. I would say the real you is both your body and your mind. Your thoughts exist, if only to you. Otherwise, you couldn't express them as you have here. > Cognizant awareness is a unique phenomenon in that it "borrows from being" > to exist, yet is fundamentally not an existent. Man may be the only > creature that straddles the S/O fence dividing subject from object, being > from non-being. As a self-conscious entity, he is endowed with the > capacity to realize the duality of existence. As for breaking down this > duality into differentiated objects in space/time, I side with Micah in > explaining this as "affective experience". In other words, man creates the > objects of his experience. I agree the nervous systems of all organisms, not just man, differentiates a continuum in order to survive, separating the good from the bad, friends from enemies. But this is basically a differentiation of quality rather than objects. But, I could be wrong. Best regards, Platt Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
