RE: Sound and Nihilism
April 30, 2015 at 11:54 am
(This post was last modified: April 30, 2015 at 12:05 pm by henryp.)
(April 30, 2015 at 11:31 am)Jörmungandr Wrote:(April 30, 2015 at 11:01 am)wallym Wrote: We talk meaning like it is an external immeasurable thing. But what is meaning tangibly? It is our brains assigning values to our perception of the world. It is a real thing happening in our noggins, just like sound. I'm sure with enough scientific understanding, we could literally pinpoint the little brainy things firing back and forth assigning meaning.
The point being, that 'meaning' is not some intangible concept, it is a physical thing that exists. It is a fact. Now, we can bicker semantics over the definition of meaning, but in the end, we can just look at the brain, and see if it is in there for whatever definition we pick. If it is, it's real. If it isn't, it's not.
This may be true, but like consciousness, until we have a model of how the brain creates meaning, it's pointless to say you're sure that it's in there. Maybe once we map out all the functional parts of the brain and we find it's not in there. What is your response then? You have faith that the physicalist model of mind explains it, but without an actual model of how it explains it, your assurances aren't worth much.
Why would you believe it's not there? What possible rationale could you have to expect that this time, believing the laws of the universe, is an issue of 'faith.'
That's like saying "We can't be sure gravity is still going to be a thing tomorrow until tomorrow gets here and we test it out."
