Yes sure, a discrete entity can be composed of smaller discrete entities. The point is that if a discrete entity is active then that activity can only be understood to consist in relations between further entities — Janus
The point is that this is an infinite regress unless there are fundamental discrete entities which are not active. — Janus
Well, we do. Those justifications are just not valid. — BlueBanana
I believe both that 'X' is false and justified.
Let 'X' be "The sun revolves around the earth". Let the timeframe be more than four centuries prior to Copernicus. — creativesoul
Think of the notio of "justification" as responsible belief. I believe that I have a very good argument that God exists. Because I believe that, I believe that "God exists" is justified - I believe it would be responsible for me to believe it. But, I'm a stubborn and dogmatic atheist and I don't really care much whether there are good arguments or whether I'm fulfilling my epistemic responsibilities. — PossibleAaran
Such a person would be strange, but not logically impossible. — PossibleAaran
The Gettier problem is, in a general form, as follows: a person has a false belief a, from which a conclusion b is drawn. It is then found out that a was false, yet b is true (although only when interpreted in some different way).
Edmund Gettier made the following two assumptions:
1) b is a justified, true belief (JTB-definition of knowledge)
2) b is not knowledge — BlueBanana
The problem for this is if a moment is active it cannot be fundamentally discrete, because if it is active then there will be change, process, within it which can then be divided into further discrete moments and so on ad infinitum. — Janus
You are right in that one instance, but the other definitions I used still work when it is you believing that X is both justified and false. — PossibleAaran
You see that I have tried my absolute best to investigate things. You see that I have considered all of the objections against P...
I think that you have very good arguments for your belief that P...
You think that my belief that P is produced by a reliable process. — PossibleAaran
I can believe that 'X' is true, while knowing that I do not have good reason for believing it. Thus, I can sincerely say that one can believe 'X' even when they knowingly do not have good reason for it. — creativesoul
In this model instead space and time are ontologically "prior" to objects. Objects need space and time for their existence. Space and time therefore are not merely an "abstraction" we use to "individuate" objects, but in fact are what allow objects to be "individuable". This is the big distinction between - as far as I understand - Kant/Schopenhauer and Newton. According to Newton space and time have no ontological role, so to speak. Instead in our case and in trascendental idealism space and time are necessary for the existence of objects (or phenomena). With space and time there is individuation. — boundless
Yes, in SR everything we can observe is in the space of objects, not in the space of potentialities. But IMO this was also true in the Newtonian case: in that theory everything physical was "in" the space of objects. But "our" model splits the "potentialities" and "actualities", and therefore seems to take into account the double nature of quantum particles by saying that each aspect of "particles" is "real" in the two spaces. — boundless
If this is so then photons are in fact not "objects" but in fact "potentialities". — boundless
The problem is that objects do interact with light as it is an "actual" object. Think about the photoelectric effect. In that case you need to take into account the particle nature of light. — boundless
While in fact I can think about our experience as given by the "projection" on the positive space of the negative, I do not understand how a physical massive object can interact with a massless one in the model we are discussing. In fact in the negative space we have the interaction of the fields (e.g. QED describes the interaction between an atom and a photon as the interaction of fields, after all) but in the positive space we have the corrisponding interaction between particles. In fact the interaction between, say, two massive atoms is an interaction that takes place in the positive space. Whereas the interaction of a massless and a massive one is solely in the negative space (and the positive we have a "projection" of it). — boundless
Take any definition which I gave you of "justified" and you will see how it is so. If "justified" means "responsible in believing" then you might think I am responsible in believing that P, even though you think P is false. Hence, you would think that I am justified in believing P, even though P is false. — PossibleAaran
It is certainly an odd notion I have, but there is a logic that I find persuasive. If something 'comes from' somewhere, it is not new, but merely a rearrangement and continuation of the old; this is the dictatorship of the reasonable, and it governs much of our lives, and much of the universe. — unenlightened
So it seems to me that even if it is not true, the story we tell of ourselves must necessarily include our freedom, and freedom means unconditioned by the past, just as determined means determined by the past. It's curious how a discussion of consciousness involves these other philosophical strands of time and determinism... — unenlightened
It's not myself that brings order; that would be intelligence. — JJJJS
I suppose it depends what is being built into the notion of being "justified" here. Normally, if I say someone is justified in believing something, I mean that they have good reason to believe it, and either no reason or a comparatively weak reason not to believe it. Clearly I could think there are such reasons for believing that P without my being psychologically convinced that P. Maybe I recognize the strong case to be made for P, but I just find the idea of P hard to believe. This is at least logically possible. Hence, it is possible to believe that X is justified without believing that X is true - in this sense of "justified". — PossibleAaran
Other Philosophers define "justified" as "produced by a reliable process". On thwt definition, I could believe that my belief that X is produced by a reliable process. Its just that I also believe that on this particular occassion the process got things wrong - X is false. — PossibleAaran
A friend of mine criticised the 'veto', claiming that this power still has to come from somewhere. I think this implied that it would have a metaphysical or generally non-physical source. — Furon
Again, you're assuming 'exhaustive' when that was not what you intended. 'Reality' is a very plastic term; the forces are assumed to be part of reality but are really inferred not observed; so they may or may not be part of reality; whereas what we observe is obviously part of reality as it is perceived by us. — Janus
I have only been putting forward, and trying to think through, a possibility; that at the 'smallest' levels, reality is quantic, and consists of a succession of unchanging frames or moments, rather than a seamless progression where any discrete position or moment becomes arbitrary. — Janus
It is when you use the words 'capacity', 'freedom', and 'creativity' that I start to reach my mystical singularity, where stories must end as explanations, and where they come from. Everything one can know, everything one can grasp, everything that makes sense, comes from the past, and this is the physicalist story that is all stories - almost. But we know, as part of that story, that the past is inadequate to the future; we know too that the emptiness of the vacuum is seething with activity.
So there is a capacity, an emptiness, that is capable of originating the new at any moment, and there can be no explanation of it, because an explanation would relate it to the past and it is new, original. Not the capacity is new, it is always there, but what comes from it comes from nothing, and that is what makes it original and creative. It is not thought, not memory, not sensation, though it functions through all of these. Let's call it 'consciousness', as it appears in humans. — unenlightened
The centre of disorder is the I — JJJJS
I didn't say "exhaustively consists", so your objection is inapt. — Janus
No the I is the nexus of disorder, dreaming is the brain's attempt at rectification of this disorder — JJJJS
The point is that if reality consists in discrete durational moments within which no change occurs, there may or may not be forces at work which are not themselves perceptible within those changeless moments, and those forces may or may not be quantized into discrete changeless moments. I am still seeing no contradiction. — Janus
That is to conflate truth and justification. — creativesoul
It is irrational to deny that someone camping in unfamiliar woods who concludes that they are in danger because of hearing an unknown, unseen, and startlingly noisy entity coming directly towards them has justified belief simply because they were mistaken. Their belief was false, but if that doesn't count as sufficient reason to believe that one is in danger, and thus that that belief is justified, then nothing will. — creativesoul
Without memory and interpretation, the visual sensation is meaningless; it acquires meaning in relation to remembered experience, learned stories, models of world and self. I have been emphasising the sensory, because philosophy tends to neglect it's importance, and because my claim is that it is prior to what one might call the inner life, because all these stories, including the one we are building here, must enter through the senses. — unenlightened
It is nonsense if it does not accord with the senses. If it does not accord with other stories we might have heard, then it might be that those stories don't quite make sense. So if it is non-story, I don't mind too much, but if it is non-sense I'm in trouble. So immediately, most of my senses slot easily into a story of my familiar home my laptop, my favourite site, and my focus is on this new post that is trickling out as I type. All the background readily 'fits' the story of my life - the story makes sense of the senses. Where I have to pay attention, is to making sure if I can that the story I am telling of the nature of consciousness also makes sense of the senses. — unenlightened
All day long, I'm seeing, hearing, touching, etc, and importantly, acting -typing, walking, carrying, eating, etc. At the end of the day, I seek out a place that is dark, quiet, and lie down for preference on something soft enough that I can hardly feel my own weight. And just to be on the safe side, I close my eyes. Then, if the stories don't insist on telling themselves, I go to sleep. — unenlightened
Your criterion for what counts as being "justified" cannot admit that one who is fleeing for their own life were justified in doing so, because they were mistaken. — creativesoul
There is no contradiction. One frame gives rise to the next, without any activity being either in each frame or between them. It is the succession itself that we perceive as activity.
There may be "forces' operating "behind the scenes", including free will; but these do not appear within the frames; we do not perceive any operation of forces or exchange of energy, these are merely inferences to causation. — Janus
What if the "doing" is not within each frame but consists in the the succession itself? — Janus
P.S. I had some problems in posting this reply. In fact I edited two precedent versions of it and they "disappeared" automatically. I apologize for the inconvenience. — boundless
They were caught by our (apparently not very good) spam filter. Apologies for that. — Michael
It seems quite odd to me... this idea... that it is somehow unjustified to concluder from false belief? That all belief based upon false premisses is unjustified???
What on earth would it take for that claim to be so? — creativesoul
One can and does infer from false belief.
It can be done validly.
It can be done reasonably. — creativesoul
At conception, we are completely void of all thought and belief. Belief is accrued. More complex belief is built upon the simple. Some simple is false. Some of our complex belief was built upon simple but false... belief. We all have no choice but to look at the world through the filter of our upbringing. All of our unbringings contained false belief.
Working from our belief system is unavoidable.
We all hold false belief.
It must be done — creativesoul
It contradicts actual events in everyone of our lives. — creativesoul
One is camping in an unfamiliar forest when s/he hears - quite suddenly - a loud startling sound.
It is as if a very large animal is coming through the underbrush. It is far enough away so as not to cause too much immediate fright. However...
The sounds are coming from an unknown source on a path. If it continues it's course it is directly at you. Unknown entity...
Turns out it was a lost dog, who happened to be deaf. This is a valid conclusion drawn from a false premiss and we were completely justified in our doing so. So...
Your criterion for what counts as being "justified" cannot admit that one who is fleeing for their own life were justified in doing so, because they were mistaken.
Did I miss anything? — creativesoul
That's Gettier problems in a nutshell... — creativesoul
Agreed! — boundless
We know that Newton was wrong and now most physicists tend to accept the idea that space is "a product" of objects. Instead, it might be the other way around. — boundless
This part is very interesting because speed of light can be both the limit speed of objects and be connected to time. However I have no idea how it might be related to the 0th dimension. — boundless
They are beliefs, they can be prelinguistic, which are shown in a form of life, viz., one's actions. — Sam26
These beliefs do reflect our subjective certainty about the world though, but this certainty is not epistemological certainty. — Sam26
I am considering the possibility that no time is passing and that there is no duration between frames, also that no time is passing, but that there is duration within frames. ( So time doesn't really "pass" at all). — Janus
The only "preparation" for subsequent frames is previous frames. the previous frames infect or carry over into the subsequent frames. Change consists in the difference between frames, but there is really no 'continuous' change; a change is a quantum leap, so to speak. — Janus
All of which goes to say that to a huge extent, what I think I am is a story I have been told. — unenlightened
When you put it that way, It seems not so much of a disagreement. Especially because I would rather say, 'The present is consciousness, consciousness is the present'. It is the 'place' where all posts are created. — unenlightened
Yes, I can relate to your point. In fact to use the model of the five senses it only "explains" what we "see". In fact we are now saying that indeed there are "objects", which are not reflections. So Bohm's theory is incomplete in our reasoning. — boundless
I am very glad to have not misunderstood, then. It can also be said that in order to know "reality" we must know both the spaces. — boundless
Yeah, I was only wondering the implications of what we are saying to see if I understood correctly (in fact it is a bit tangential). If there is a subject then time, space and objects are "real". Subject and objects cannot exist "on their own", so to speak. Like in Schopenhauer philosophy all that things exist in relation to the subject. — boundless
Are you talking about unconscious thought, or more bodily processes? Usually, as you seem to suggest, people talk about self-consciousness in terms of being aware of thoughts, but do not talk about self-consciousness in terms of being aware of having an erection or a sore thumb. They identify as having a body, and being a mind. This is largely unchanged by the idea that the mind extends beyond what is conscious. And in such case, I would expect you to say, if not 'I am consciousness', then something like 'I am the mind of which I am incompletely conscious'. Which is to locate oneself as an inner world, in the body but other than it. — unenlightened
Then a glance at this thread should convince you. You can readily scroll back and look at all the past posts, but where the future posts will be is blank. — unenlightened
The best sense I can make of it is that you are speaking as thought and in a thought world, because in the thought world, the model world, time has exactly that property, the model can be run forwards or backwards, restarted, altered, relived, and so on. One has equal access to every moment at any moment. — unenlightened
I have to confess I am struggling to relate this to my experience at all. — unenlightened
My pension is due next week, the government is usually pretty reliable. But I do not become conscious of these things themselves ( as distinct from the ideas that I have relayed here), before they happen. I cannot spend next week's pension today, or bathe in the spring sunshine. — unenlightened
But the painful frustrating world I live in does not afford that freedom; the compensation though is that it is real, not thought. — unenlightened
The usual view is that physics must find something definite, crisp, determinate, atomistic, once it drills down to the bedrock of existence. This is why the micro-physical laws are taken to describe something substantially real while the macro-physical laws - like the second law of thermodynamics in particular - are dismissed as merely emergent in the sense of being descriptive illusions. A way of summing over the fine detail as a convenience. — apokrisis
This is why the micro-physical laws are taken to describe something substantially real while the macro-physical laws - like the second law of thermodynamics in particular - are dismissed as merely emergent in the sense of being descriptive illusions. A way of summing over the fine detail as a convenience. — apokrisis
What if each frame persists for a while without change? — Janus
This reminds me strongly of the "Implicate and Explicate Order" by Bohm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Implicate_and_explicate_order): I discussed (maily) with Rich about it some time ago in this thread.
But also of "Advaita Vedanta" and Neoplatonism. Also this article https://phys.org/news/2015-05-spacetime-built-quantum-entanglement.html may be of interest.
In this view plurality arises in the "representations" rather than in "reality". In fact, the notion of "reality" itself is challenged. Time and space exist only in the representation. And outside it these concepts do not apply: "reality" is neither spatial nor temporal. And so since discernible objects are possible if and only if there is space, then if space is a representation, then objects must exist only as a construction (like in a "hologram"). — boundless
And here with other senses "objects" return. So, we "see" the potentiality and with other senses we "feel" actual, existing objects. If this is true then our concept of "space" is mistaken because it is really the "space" of potentialities, rather than actualities. So "reality", thanks to the "two dimensional time" is both a sort of hologram of "potentialities" and a world of real objects. It is not that one is "more or less" real than the other but simply if we consider the totality of our sensations we see both "aspects" of reality. Very nice (I hope to not have misunderstood something... in that case, I am sorry). — boundless
But...
I might wonder however to what "happens" if there is no "perciever". If all what we said is right then objects, time and space are all real if there is a subject (in some sense this is reminiscent of trascendental idealism, especially the version of Schopenhauer). But if this is true, then the "object is always in relation with a subject", therefore if we remove the "subject", the object too "disappears". Well, this reminds me of "neither one nor many" of Mahayana Buddhism (also for that matter Schopenhauer noted a common ground here) :wink: — boundless
