RE: What do you believe in that hasnt been proven to exist?
October 29, 2016 at 6:16 am
(This post was last modified: October 29, 2016 at 6:24 am by Excited Penguin.)
(October 29, 2016 at 5:54 am)BrianSoddingBoru4 Wrote:(October 29, 2016 at 5:44 am)Excited Penguin Wrote: What do you mean by external, then ? External to what, the neurons ?
External to my own consciousness. Try an example. I have a lawnmower in my garden shed. If there is no external world, then the lawnmower will cease to exist when my consciousness ceases to exist. If there is an external world, the lawnmower will still be there when my consciousness isn't. I have no 'reasonable belief' that the former situation is the correct one, so I therefore believe - without proof - that there exists an external world apart from my consciousness.
To put it another (and perhaps more personal) way, the AF member I know as 'Excited Penguin' exists whether I live another 50 years or I die in the next ten seconds. If there were no external world, you would cease to exist when I do.
Boru
Do you agree that consciousness is a physical process arising in the brain ? If so, why do you think it possible that the world's existence may be predicated on your experience of it ? All you have described is this hypothetical connection between awareness and reality that you think may or may not be there, but you haven't explained it.
My own position on the matter is that this is an unknowable and meaningless proposition to consider.
