It is a good exercise to try to find the most basic building blocks of the Universe. Science has traced it back to Energy, but you are Speculating that Spirit or what I would call Consciousness is a more fundamental building block. I don't see how you make Energy from Consciousness, but it is a good Speculation. There's nothing wrong with Speculation. You don't need to have all the answers to have a Speculative Insight. Maybe just the thought that Energy and thus Matter are actually made out of Consciousness will inspire some other Mind to discover the answer. By the way, when it comes to Consciousness all we have is Speculation because nobody — SteveKlinko
Thank you for the kind words. — Noah Te Stroete
I sympathize with your position, but you can't really discuss it with materialists because they disagree with your premises, but then you disagree with theirs so it doesn't lead anywhere. Still I think that people who believe in the primacy of consciousness over matter are usually less narrow-minded. But it's hard to show someone narrow-minded that they are narrow-minded, they have to be willing to let go of their convictions, or at least to tentatively entertain different points of view without reacting strongly right from the beginning against what they don't believe in. — leo
Would you rather hear kind words or harsh truths? — S
And what do you know about truth. You’re no better than a nihilist. — Noah Te Stroete
I know, at least, that one has a better chance of obtaining it through a means other than those known to be faulty, such as wishful thinking and confirmation bias. You want there to be a God, and, lo and behold, you interpret the science so as to lead to God. That's not the approach of a seeker of truth, that's the approach of someone who is out to indulge in pleasing deception, whether consciously or unconsciously. — S
S thinks that analytical philosophy is superior to continental philosophy, and that the 17th and 18th century philosophers did nothing of note. I don’t know why I engage with him. He isn’t about discovery, about the world or about himself. He seems to think that the consensus in the scientific community at any given time is the end all and be all. He has no imagination, and he just parrots back what he has learned from Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. — Noah Te Stroete
...and that the 17th and 18th century philosophers did nothing of note — Noah Te Stroete
Kant made mince-meat out of Hume. — Noah Te Stroete
I happen to think that's precisely why they choose them. For instance there's something about physicalism that suits you that you don't find in other philosophies. — leo
I definitely do not choose any stance because I like it. In fact, I'd often prefer that other things were true. I choose stances based on what's the case. — Terrapin Station
I definitely do not choose any stance because I like it. In fact, I'd often prefer that other things were true. I choose stances based on what's the case. — Terrapin Station
It is the case that physicalism has no answer and will never have an answer for consciousness. — Noah Te Stroete
That's not at all the case. Consciousness is very clearly a subset of brain function. — Terrapin Station
That's not at all the case. Consciousness is very clearly a subset of brain function. — Terrapin Station
And you’ve died already to say that that is clearly shown? — Noah Te Stroete
How do you know that consciousness only occurs in brains? — Noah Te Stroete
I would guess you might be an example. — Noah Te Stroete
By the complete absence of evidence of it occurring elsewhere. That's the same way that we know that Led Zeppelin music only occurs on Earth. — Terrapin Station
Lack of evidence doesn’t preclude the possibility. — Noah Te Stroete
No — Noah Te Stroete
Excluding possibilities would amount to proving something, right? — Terrapin Station
If we've precluded all possibilities but one, then that one thing can't be wrong, no? — Terrapin Station
How have we precluded all possibilities? What is the justification for that? — Noah Te Stroete
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