RE: The burden of proof relating to conciousness, free choice and rationality
March 11, 2012 at 10:52 am
(This post was last modified: March 11, 2012 at 11:02 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Similarly, we can watch the nerves go haywire, and send a very "material" signal along their very "material" lines to your very "material" brain, which you might then express with your very "material" mouth to a doctor who will give you very "material" pain relievers. Pain isn't a ghostly signal sent and received by ghostly apparatus Chad.
You're assuming that there is more to this than what we see, and then declaring that by simple power of your assumption the well evidenced view cannot be proven. I remain unconvinced. You keep referring to experiences, such as the experience of color, and being unable to prove this or that, then explain to me, precisely how do we test for colorblindness? How do we know when and how much to sedate patients that are completely under during major surgery? We just might be able to explain and account for more than you give us credit for Chad. Your philosophies of this or that are powerless in the face of what is applied across many fields all day every day, with results that can be demonstrated, firmly material mechanisms that are better understood with every passing year. Maybe what you mean to say is that your philosophy cannot account for this or that (though I'm fairly certain you have your own favorite explanations, which is precisely why you attempt to insert mystery, to allow for them, so why say we cannot account for them, when you probably already have). Well, no worries, others who leverage more demanding tools have handled that for you.
You're assuming that there is more to this than what we see, and then declaring that by simple power of your assumption the well evidenced view cannot be proven. I remain unconvinced. You keep referring to experiences, such as the experience of color, and being unable to prove this or that, then explain to me, precisely how do we test for colorblindness? How do we know when and how much to sedate patients that are completely under during major surgery? We just might be able to explain and account for more than you give us credit for Chad. Your philosophies of this or that are powerless in the face of what is applied across many fields all day every day, with results that can be demonstrated, firmly material mechanisms that are better understood with every passing year. Maybe what you mean to say is that your philosophy cannot account for this or that (though I'm fairly certain you have your own favorite explanations, which is precisely why you attempt to insert mystery, to allow for them, so why say we cannot account for them, when you probably already have). Well, no worries, others who leverage more demanding tools have handled that for you.
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