tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post5605883038686935654..comments2023-10-10T08:02:18.073-04:00Comments on Rationally Speaking: Using thought experiments to investigate your reactions and motivationsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-85011563906829187152012-05-20T16:03:25.808-04:002012-05-20T16:03:25.808-04:00http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Introspectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IntrospectionAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07573847127040276949noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-79121559798493195112012-05-20T14:06:45.267-04:002012-05-20T14:06:45.267-04:00Believe in an objective reality, do we? Then parag...Believe in an objective reality, do we? Then paragraphs 1 and 2 do not disagree with each other and flow. Think there are problems with an objective reality? Then the thought experiments are of value when wrestling with any question you like, from the best working definition of a god, the best way to get from here to there, or the best approximation of what we used to call facts.<br /><br />Sorry, Julia, but claiming the idea of a god using thought experiments alone as absurd strikes me as short-sighted and backed up by little if none of the achievements in science and information technology this past century.<br /><br />The argument by physicist/philosophers who have made the study of reality their daily business is that a case can be made for what goes on in the imagination to be fundamentally no different than what goes on outside the imagination. Why? <<br /><br />- The difference between the two is the level of agreement about the data. You and I might 'agree' the sidewalk and the rain, but we usually do not agree about the things we conjure.<br /><br />- A growing consensus among physicists that objects separated by 'physical' time and space would then be separated by human or imaginary constructs, given the imaginary nature of time and space, given time and space as devices constructed by humans as to better deal with their environment.<br /><br />- Every 'physical' object built by humans can be said to have originated in one or more human minds. It sort of flows that 'natural' objects, or those not known to originate in human minds came from some other sort of mind.<br /><br />The rebuttals to these arguments are often of a common-sense " Dr. Johnson refuting it thus" nature. But the simulation argument says that the foot kicking a rock at the forward-thinking bishop-philosopher is as imaginary as the pain caused. And if you do not buy simulation, there is simply the informational aspect of all things, and if you do not buy information as the basis of all things, then replace it with energy - it doesn't matter. What matters is that real, solid objects that make up our world are at heart, at a minimum, nothing but fields. <br /><br />The foot is making a statement - of sorts. It is saying, "Stop imagining by yourself, partake in my imagination too, sent to you via the kicked rock, and build the future via committee, not fiat".<br /><br />Can we not agree that reality is simply the things we agree, nothing more, nothing less? <br /><br />Like Facebook, what most call reality seems more likely a social network.DaveShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15840516954793215700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-41207485863819361912012-05-19T20:33:33.029-04:002012-05-19T20:33:33.029-04:00The "hate" option is only one of many po...The "hate" option is only one of many possibilities ~ the difficulty is identifying ALL of them rather than just the two that Julia is conscious of. Then one has to determine what personal biases might be operating below ones awareness for each option. Then when one has conducted the thought experiments the question arises ~ "how does one know that ones analysis is correctly unbiased?"<br /><br />The biases can stretch back to childhood [Rosebud]. The biases could be cultural.<br /><br />The trouble with thought experiments of this kind is there usually isn't a way of confirming ones conclusions independently ~ it's all opinion & just so stories designed to accommodate a coherent narrative. Read any autobiography around events with which you have some direct knowledge & outside of the dates & places it's striking how much of what's left is purely post hoc rationalisation. <br /><br />A prime example of this effect is to be found in police witness reports. We all walk through our lives almost completely unaware of the world we are in & we weave the story of our lives from the few bare threads that we pick up & retain.<br /><br />Self-deception is a central process in our lives ~ we don't usually notice the huge gaps, mis-rememberings & misinterpretations of our own [& other peoples] motivations in our life stories.Michael Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14278512837240256168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-5086440019436841052012-05-19T19:44:39.885-04:002012-05-19T19:44:39.885-04:00Well, self-deception is usually at least in rather...Well, self-deception is usually at least in rather introspectively predictable <i>directions</i> (e.g., self-interest, ideological stance, ingroup/outgroup). Ceteris paribus (i.e., unless her roomate is a professional competitor or a republican or something like that), there is no reason to think that Julia would be *in denial* about resenting her roommate, and therefore no particular reason to worry about that source of bias.ianpollockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15579140807988796286noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-7620411394247377332012-05-19T12:37:04.600-04:002012-05-19T12:37:04.600-04:00After finding out (with probability)what your moti...After finding out (with probability)what your motivations or emotional reactions are - could you use thought experiments to change them, supposing you don't like what you've found out about yourself?Phiwillihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05434702023421961210noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-91465748527431003382012-05-19T10:47:15.302-04:002012-05-19T10:47:15.302-04:00Everyone practises self deception ~ so how do you ...Everyone practises self deception ~ so how do you know for sure that you are irritated at having a want denied? What if you hate your room mate, but you are hiding that fact from yourself? Perhaps your apparent feelings about the two cookie scenarios are a cover for a deeper resentment that you're harbouring.<br /><br />The results of thought experiments about the physical world can be put to the test later by designing a physical test & collecting data. Is it possible to test YOUR OWN reactions & motivations with acceptable certainty given that our brains are the most complex objects known in the universe? I'm leaning towards "No".Michael Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14278512837240256168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15005476.post-67827773916192640982012-05-19T10:07:58.210-04:002012-05-19T10:07:58.210-04:00Love the article, but what I REALLY want to know n...Love the article, but what I REALLY want to know now is: are you a professor for the prestige?!...https://www.blogger.com/profile/01091213938795498181noreply@blogger.com