(March 25, 2017 at 11:39 pm)bennyboy Wrote: Very few scientists, for example, make it a regular mental practice to ponder the vast emptiness of even solid objects and to let that awareness inform their behavior-- doing this is simply not considered an important part of science.It isn't important to every part of science (or every scientist). Why would it be? There's no need to ponder it, for example, when studying mosaic resistant cultivars or asking the question "will it blend!?!". It is important, though, when modeling nematode migration, and so "regular practice". I think that you'd find that in any portion of science where the resolution and realization above actually is relevant and important, it -is- regular practice.
Quote:Very few people who believe the brain is deterministic and free will is therefore an illusion actually change their world views in a way in which this truth would matter: they still get mad when someone cuts them off in traffic, they still blame a killer or a pedophile for his actions, and so on.-but can they help themselves, can they stop doing that or is it a deep seated compulsion...lol?
Quote:It seems to me that the scientfic method, in particular, needs formally to add one more step to its method: the application of scientific truths to the world view, and the expression of those truths in our behavior and in our laws. We should act as though scientific truths matter as more than a catalogue of details about the world.I agree with the last sentence despite disagreeing with those that led up to it. There's no categorical imperative to make our world view, behaviors, or laws conform to scientific truths. They may matter more than some people think, but that doesn't mean they matter as much as you seem to think they do, or in those instances in which you think they matter, or for the reasons you think they matter, in this post
Quote:This would mean materialists adopting practices they currently abhor, in particular that of meditation. By this, I don't mean seeking Nirvana or trying to achieve OBE. I mean the habitual reflection on ideas, so frequently and with such focus that they become entrenched in the world view, and manifest in one's behaviors.Sooooo..you mean thinking, not meditation. We do that all the time.
Quote:Without this, philosophical or scientific ideas are just bullet points, rather than a key toward improving our lives individually and culturally.I think we do it more than you give us credit for, for better or for worse...we just don't reach the same conclusions or positions or behaviors you feel we should.
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