Gregg R Thomas

jakelafort wrote:
I can’t get involved in philosophical issues regarding morality. It strikes me as a vacuous endeavor when juxtaposed against the real world. Consequentialist, deontological blah blah blah. I suppose it is okay if you are so inclined in terms of PERSONAL principles.

Some of us think that diagram should be taught in primary s…[Read more]

PopeBeanie wrote:
Can one just think of morality as an emergent thought process, with societal ramifications?

Morality emerges from collaboration.

“Emergence” is defined as a property of a whole not present in its parts. So, emergence is an epiphenomenon, like a rainbow or mirror reflection.

Notice that rainbows and mirror reflections are, in a sense, not real and are accounted for in terms of sufficient conditions.  Conditions describable deterministically

In other words, you can explain…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:
Nothing happens without sufficient conditions being met,

We think for a reason: to calculate what we have to do to achieve our goals, to thrive, survive and reproduce. There is therefore biological pressure to think. As for what direction this thinking takes, then within constraints and limits, and acted upon…

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Unseen wrote:
Nothing happens without sufficient conditions being met,

We think for a reason: to calculate what we have to do to achieve our goals, to thrive, survive and reproduce.  There is therefore biological pressure to think.  As for what direction this thinking takes, then within constraints and limits, and acted upon by influences – i…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:
We can be and feel free on a surface level in the sense that we can do things we want to do or out of habit or whatever and not do them at gunpoint,

That is free will right there. On a day-to-day level, I exercise freedom of choice, restricted or guided by certain constraints, pushed in certain directions by…

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Yes, Belle Rose. So many Catholics….what could go wrong?? Why do they always close their eyes when they pray to the Creator of the Universe? It seems to put a strain on their faces too…..but that could be caused by the cognitive dissonance of it all.

Thanks, Reg!

Have a great week!!

The only thing consistent about your god in my life is his complete absence.

– Reg.

Unseen wrote:
We can be and feel free on a surface level in the sense that we can do things we want to do or out of habit or whatever and not do them at gunpoint,

That is free will right there.  On a day-to-day level, I exercise freedom of choice, restricted or guided by certain constraints, pushed in certain directions by unseen forces – but…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:

Unseen wrote:
What we call consciousness seems to be an epiphenomenon of a system based on human flesh. Brain, neurons, nervous system, etc.

Maybe, but it’s not random or superfluous. It’s structured in a definite way for a reason: to help us thrive, survive and reproduce, like every other part of us.

You’re no more free if…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
We can start with intelligence or hair color and work our way into musical preferences. Throw any of that data on a chart and you will have a bell curve.

What does that have to do with free choice and consciousness?

Unseen wrote:
What we call consciousness seems to be an epiphenomenon of a system based on human flesh. Brain, neurons, nervous system, etc.

Maybe, but it’s not random or superfluous.  It’s structured in a definite way for a reason: to help us thrive, survive and reproduce, like every other part of us.

The purpose of the central nervous system…

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Strega wrote:
@unseen Nice! Thanks! Great analogy. I support your position. Your consciousness is like your digestive system. Where does that go when you die?

@unseen Nice!  Thanks!  Great analogy. I support your position.

Your consciousness is like your digestive system. Where does that go when you die?

Simon Paynton wrote:
Do all our choices, all the results of our executive decisions, have external causes?  Or are some of the causes free conscious deliberations – free thoughts?

Is not one choice wiser than another, with respect to long-term flourishing and survival?

In short, we have a combination of freewill and restriction, in reality. 

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_Robert_ wrote:
We do know that quantum mechanical systems are not deterministic but are instead probabilistic. That may give us the idea that we have free will when actually your decisions and choices have probabilities.

I don’t buy that.  It’s too direct contact between different levels of reality: psychological and quantum reality.  I think i…[Read more]