(February 28, 2013 at 7:32 pm)whateverist Wrote:(February 28, 2013 at 7:09 pm)ManMachine Wrote: If we accept the contemporary argument that the sense of self is a delusion derived from post-hoc narrative, and it is our belief in the self that is the key cognitive mechanism, then by extension we have to accept that self-aware animals, that also believe in their own delusion of the 'self', have 'systems of belief'.
MM
Yeah the implications are fun but I have to say I'm not eager to categorize the 'sense of self' as a mistake or illusion just because we have a cognitive mechanism which stitches together information to create a coherent narrative. I think implications of the data which lead to that theory/conclusion is not very well understood.
To create a narative obviously had survival value for a creature evolving the capacity for thinking abstractly about implications of actions. And what exactly should we expect to 'underpin a sense of self'? It is obviously a murky territory to conceptualize in since we believe we are those selves. That there is some aspect of self which we are merely presented with and don't choose would fit pretty well with my experience; I don't experience myself as a tabla raza upon which my 'self' writes with perfect 'free will'. No understanding of how the self is produced cognitively or through brain physiology can ever nullify our sense of self.
I was having a little fun playing fast and loose with definitions.
As I used to say to my Philosophy professor, I think, therefore I am an entity capable of convincing myself I can think. That's about the long and short of it.
"The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions" - Leonardo da Vinci
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
"I think I use the term “radical” rather loosely, just for emphasis. If you describe yourself as “atheist,” some people will say, “Don’t you mean ‘agnostic’?” I have to reply that I really do mean atheist, I really do not believe that there is a god; in fact, I am convinced that there is not a god (a subtle difference). I see not a shred of evidence to suggest that there is one ... etc., etc. It’s easier to say that I am a radical atheist, just to signal that I really mean it, have thought about it a great deal, and that it’s an opinion I hold seriously." - Douglas Adams (and I echo the sentiment)
