posts by anon 0x39a

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Physicalism and Questions of Identity
Suppose your consciousness was transferred into someone else's body, the rationalist asked me. I asked what does that even mean? I am an entirely physical being. What exactly is being swapped over? I'm not going to evaluate a "but what if you were haitian"... posted 5mo ago with 35 replies 13 13 1 1

Physicalism and Ques 13 13 1 1

The feasibility or completeness of brain transplants isn't really the point here. Yeah you might end up with psychological content from the gut and heart etc of the new body, but that's beside the point. It's just a way more physically plausible thought ex... 5mo ago 4 4

The feasibility or c 4 4

I agree it’s some of both. Healthy people don't just philosophy themselves into such extreme idiocy (though they may be bamboozled by someone else’s bad philosophy). But once the degeneracy gets going, it takes on structure through bad philosophy, and ... 5mo ago 6 6

I agree it’s some of 6 6

What observable fact is actually in need of explanation with this mysterious consciousness idea? Is it just that there is a “something” observing a boulder rolling down a hill? If we locate that “something” in the physical model and show what we me... 5mo ago 4 4

What observable fact 4 4

If consciousness were not a tractable phenomenon within physicalism, that would definitely throw a wrench into the OP’s contention. It just deserves its own thread to be treated properly. I will make one soon. 5mo ago 3 3

If consciousness wer 3 3

Following Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who was a more careful thinker on these matters than I, yes a ribosome or other complex molecule has a simple interiority, a slightly composite particle of consciousness. A Tesla likewise has its own interiority, much ... 4mo ago 7 7

Following Pierre Tei 7 7

Earth's interior is hot, high pressure, and mostly hydrostatically balanced. I don't just mean that as some pithy rejoinder, but as a description of what it's like in any relevant sense. Everything has some intangible interiority that defines the logic of ... 4mo ago 4 4

Earth's interior is 4 4

What has a cell got besides its matter? Form. It is arranged in a very particular way that makes it behave differently from a homogenized soup of its constituent chemicals. Similarly, a ground up microchip will not function either. You may notice that the ... 4mo ago 4 4

What has a cell got 4 4

Not enemies, just fools. You are right it’s pointless to police other people’s irrationalities. When i examine my interest in this topic, its that i want to root out my own irrationalities. I have always considered the physicalist (thanks to you guys f... 4mo ago 4 4

Not enemies, just fo 4 4

Gravity is a force, a response to the form of mass-energy. Things made with that force, like an orbit, have form as a key property. Credible explanation does not imply form isnt operative. Form isnt a stand-in for mystery, its just what it says: the partic... 4mo ago 7 7

Gravity is a force, 7 7

I dont see the importance of the distinction you are implying between form and function. The form implements the function and you cant change function without changing form. Everything here meant in the usual sense and not some exotic technical sense. In p... 4mo ago 6 6

I dont see the impor 6 6

The crux seems to be this “bucket” you want to put different things in together or not. If the cpu architecture is different but the emulated program and behavior are the same (modulo timing, power use, etc), why does there need to be any canonical sen... 4mo ago 3 3

The crux seems to be 3 3