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A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
#1
A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
Imagine climbing a mountain to visit a Buddhist temple with rooms painted each color of the rainbow. You walk through the entire temple then you stop in the red room, all you see is red but the rest of the temple exists in your mind and recent memory.

If you think of the universe like a maze or giant temple you only see part at a time, the rest of the universe you assume based on a probable model.

For example right now you can’t see behind you but you assume it still exists, that has to do with probability, you assume there isn't a fire or monster behind you. Our sense of reality has to do with memory and probability because we only directly see very little.

This also has to do with recognition like how a baby doesn't realize fire is hot but when you see fire you assume it is hot based on memory. You recognize fire.
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#2
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
I don't get what the experiment is supposed to be.
[Image: dcep7c.jpg]
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#3
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 24, 2014 at 4:55 pm)Escherscurtain Wrote: Imagine climbing a mountain to visit a Buddhist temple with rooms painted each color of the rainbow. You walk through the entire temple then you stop in the red room, all you see is red but the rest of the temple exists in your mind and recent memory.

If you think of the universe like a maze or giant temple you only see part at a time, the rest of the universe you assume based on a probable model.

For example right now you can’t see behind you but you assume it still exists, that has to do with probability, you assume there isn't a fire or monster behind you. Our sense of reality has to do with memory and probability because we only directly see very little.

This also has to do with recognition like how a baby doesn't realize fire is hot but when you see fire you assume it is hot based on memory. You recognize fire.
Okay, you've said some things about memory, but I don't see what your point is. Having a point is important.
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#4
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
I'm sure there is a second part of this missing somewhere.

And?
Kuusi palaa, ja on viimeinen kerta kun annan vaimoni laittaa jouluvalot!
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#5
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 24, 2014 at 5:08 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: I don't get what the experiment is supposed to be.

Oh it’s more of an exploration, by going into the rainbow temple you see that most of the universe is assumed. It’s an extension of the philosopher’s cave where a philosopher asks “Does the outside world still exist?” The outside world is represented by the other colored rooms. So while in the red room you can ask “Does the blue room still exist?”

People used to think the world was flat with a dome that was their probable model of the universe vs the actual universe. The point of the exploration is to highlight Probable Model/Actual Universe.

To further the point is the universe you know in your mind and memory or is it the actual universe?
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#6
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 24, 2014 at 6:12 pm)Escherscurtain Wrote: To further the point is the universe you know in your mind and memory or is it the actual universe?
The universe I see in my mind is not a memory or the actual universe. Whatever you see in your mind cannot be the actual thing. You don't have people and places and things stored away in your mind. In my personal mind I guess the universe is a mixture of models and pictures I've seen in science books and movies and maybe some of my own imagination.
What is the experiment though?
(August 21, 2017 at 11:31 pm)KevinM1 Wrote: "I'm not a troll"
Religious Views: He gay

0/10

Hammy Wrote:and we also have a sheep on our bed underneath as well
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#7
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 24, 2014 at 6:12 pm)Escherscurtain Wrote: To further the point is the universe you know in your mind and memory or is it the actual universe?
Okay, I'm with you now.

People often confuse what is known with what is believed. In fact, I'd argue that knowledge can ONLY be applied in context-- i.e. all knowledge is a belief accompanied by the sense that it is highly consistent with that context.

For example, I know my wife's name. In the context of walking around and living my mundane life, that's knowledge. However, does she really exist outside my experience of her? That, I cannot know, because now we're talking about a context which I cannot access. (because I access information only through my experiences)
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#8
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
Shifty I think I'm having an acid flashback... Shifty

Whew... ok, it's over. It's an interesting thought experiment, but I think I'll refrain from it unless it has an end goal. The rainbow analogy is just a little too intense...

Shifty

Shifty

Shifty
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#9
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 25, 2014 at 1:01 am)bennyboy Wrote: Okay, I'm with you now.

People often confuse what is known with what is believed. In fact, I'd argue that knowledge can ONLY be applied in context-- i.e. all knowledge is a belief accompanied by the sense that it is highly consistent with that context.

For example, I know my wife's name. In the context of walking around and living my mundane life, that's knowledge. However, does she really exist outside my experience of her? That, I cannot know, because now we're talking about a context which I cannot access. (because I access information only through my experiences)
There is a zen quote that goes something like “one leaf falling is not just one leaf but the whole of autumn.”

If I look at a leaf I can think “This leaf is not everything…” because I know other things and put the leaf in context.

Sometimes I call it a contextual matrix sort of like the movie The Matrix.

But this is confusing stuff and I’m not that smart or educated so that makes it all the more confusing. I’m like an ant trying to understand Calculus.
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#10
RE: A thought experiment: The rainbow temple
(March 24, 2014 at 6:12 pm)Escherscurtain Wrote:
(March 24, 2014 at 5:08 pm)CapnAwesome Wrote: I don't get what the experiment is supposed to be.

Oh it’s more of an exploration, by going into the rainbow temple you see that most of the universe is assumed. It’s an extension of the philosopher’s cave where a philosopher asks “Does the outside world still exist?” The outside world is represented by the other colored rooms. So while in the red room you can ask “Does the blue room still exist?”

People used to think the world was flat with a dome that was their probable model of the universe vs the actual universe. The point of the exploration is to highlight Probable Model/Actual Universe.

To further the point is the universe you know in your mind and memory or is it the actual universe?

Cool, okay I think that did actually further explain the point or the point of the thought experiment anyway. I've heard some really interesting philosophical debates on the subject. What's the difference between reality and what we perceive as reality or is there a difference?

Myself, I come down on the side that the universe actually exists. Even though my reality of it is all I can experience, there is a separate 'thing' called the universe that exists regardless of me and will continue to even if I can perceive it or not. Some people find it uncomfortable to think that the Universe exists without them, but I find it to be a strangely comforting idea that it'll go on without me. That it'll always be there.

Hmmm, I actually got a lot more out of that thought process than I thought I would. I guess +1 for that.
[Image: dcep7c.jpg]
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