GENIUS FORUMS

Leyla, Well, I am compelled to challenge this. What does it mean to say that many observable phenomena “get by just fine without causality”? It means that atoms decay at random intervals, electrons move at indeterminate trajectories, and virtual particles can pop into existence in vacuums. Perh...

Leyla, Wait…since we can’t know all the specific causes of things (“invisible gnomes”), then all the evidence that points to the fact that things are caused (empirical and logical) becomes false because we might just as well literally believe in invisible gnomes? Actually, that's not really...

Leyla, But, why do you disagree with P3? I don't think the fact that one can't know all the specific causes of everything is an argument against causality. What are the premises that lead to that conclusion? I can't give a proof that invisible gnomes don't exist, but if I demonstrate that we have n...

Leyla, [laughs] Wow. Seriously, it kinda sticks out like dogs balls to me! But I will work on expressing it another way. Give me some time. The problem with your suggestion is that you assume that all things must be caused. You essentially go off of Hume's definition of causation in which an effect...

Kevin, I was thinking of an infinite number of different kinds of brains. I'm of the opinion that there are only so many ways that matter can arrange itself to form a brain, and thus there is a limitation to the possible number of different sorts of brains. I consider the higher dimension to be a l...

Seriously though, as a creature of space/time (really the same thing) your ability to see anything other that that is fundamentally unavailable i.e. the chess pieces cannot conceive of anything beyond the board. So as far as we are concerned, infinity in space/time can be safely worshiped as dogma ...

A genius is either someone who's ideas you can't understand, or someone who's ideas are similar to your own. Then again, I give a new answer to this question every time I see it. So, what say you Nietzsche, Wilde, Emerson? "A man who possesses genius is insufferable unless he also possesses at ...

Dan, The Infinite is only infinite in one regard, which is its own. I'm imagining that this means something along the lines of the Infinite is infinite because it's defined as being infinite? If so, that's a rather obvious point, don't you think? The phrase "totality of appearances" isn't...

Kevin, So an individual brain is unable to have an infinite number of appearances, but the infinite number of appearances is possible over an infinite number of brains. An infinite number of appearances perhaps. Although not an infinite number of different appearances. You have to remember that eve...

To branch off into a slightly different speculative tangent: I'm not so sure that we can safely say that the universe is infinite. At first it seems simply intuitive that it should be, given the fact that it's pretty hard to imagine walls being around the universe. Although if the universe operates ...

Kevin Solway, It's possible we live in a little bubble that is expanding and contracting. But we would not be the only one. There would be an infinite number of these bubbles making up the Universe. Yeah. I wasn't too clear there. I meant that there's a finite amount of matter states. I'm not worri...

Here's a blurb for your jacket: "[your name or nom de plume] has written an insightful tome on [subject of your book], that invokes the best aspects of [similar author to yourself], while bringing new thoughts to the subject that surpass all expectations for even [impressive academic credential...

We can take the amount of appearances that compose the totality of appearances to be infinite, but only if we talk of potential appearances. Even then, though, given that there's a finite amount of matter, and thus ways it can arrange itself, and also, seemingly, a finite amount of perspectives, and...

hades, I say this because to approach the problem you have to adopt a dualistic view, a subjective / objective dichotomy, and thats baseless. I'm not suggesting that one can't solve the problem by accepting a monist view, but any such view I've heard requires assumptions that don't lend well to mos...

"you" are a confederation of billions of individual life forms. Some submit that there is nothing beyond the cell except the cooperative action of cells. Nevertheless, that doesn't solve the problem of where first-person phenomenal consciousness comes from. Many modern philosophers of min...

Hard Problem of Consciousness Here's the problem that most fascinates me at the moment. It's essentially the old mind/body problem, but most folks call it the "hard problem of consciousness" or the "explanatory gap" these days. I'll let Chalmers explain it, given that he's the g...

It's a semantic miracle!

(original post retracted by author due to excessive sarcasm)

Hades,

Would you like a few questions to ponder, or have you lost interest in philosophy altogether?

(I haven't read any posts in this thread other then the OP, so forgive me if I repeat anything that's already been said.) Matt Gregory, I think that perhaps what you're referring to as a "realization" is what I would call a "Eureka moment": that second when you find a solution to...

I dated a girl once who had begun to develop bulimia. She was one of the most intelligent, rational, outgoing individuals I had ever met; but had suffered through a rough childhood, and had severe depression that I can only imagine came from her terrible self-image. The whole thing scared the living...

Cory, The problem with your thesis is that it doesn't counter alternate theories off-hand. My own personal idea on this subject is that sometimes dudes just feel like hitting other dudes . Lets say a fella is being a total lamer. Occasionally you just want to smash his face so he shuts up. This has...

Dan, Why would they choose to just lie down and die? What emotion (which they don't have) would cause them to do that? I think this modern paradigm of equating all human action other than logic itself with emotion is foolish. Motive to act is not emotion. Motive to act is pure will to power that an...

DHodges, I'm curious: does anyone here consider themselves to be a nihilist, in any of the senses millipodium states above? Not in any of the definitions present in that dictionary entry. I'm a nihilist if one only takes the word to represent the lack of belief in an essential meaning to things. Al...

If someone didn't have emotion I imagine they'd just lay down and die. There's no logical reason to do anything. Emotion gives us our oughts. Reason just helps a fella actualize them.

millipodium, In some senses of the term I think that almost everyone at this board could fairly be called a nihilist, but in such senses of the term, I find that to be a good thing. In other senses of the term, I find it to be an inaccurate characterization. Calling folks nihilists really doesn't m...