I don't think you can be certain of that. What about every memory you have forgotten, or everything about you that changes mentally?
Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:44 pm
Metal Chao
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 6:04 pm Posts: 2901
Re: The Lounge
I tell you if it turns out I imagined all the posts on this forum I'd have a lot of things to be deeply embarrassed about I rated my conciousness a little higher
Wed Sep 05, 2012 10:51 pm
Asklar
Data Realms Elite
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:01 am Posts: 6211 Location: In your office, earning your salary.
Re: The Lounge
Shut up metal, those are my memories, not yours.
Thu Sep 06, 2012 12:07 am
Duh102
happy carebear mom
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 1:40 am Posts: 7096 Location: b8bbd5
Re: The Lounge
But Chao, what if your regular intellect consumes so much of your normal consciousness power that all that was left over could only power the basest of posting intellects? That would speak highly of your intellect, not poorly.
So my dad gives me a terabyte hard drive to put on my computer I put in, turn it on and the computer doesn't recognise my old hard drive with the OS on After hours of toiling with the cables and the BIOS to get it to boot off the correct drive, we decide to install Windows on the new drive, and transfer it over later or find a solution to boot the other drive And that was my night, thank you folks All this after over a week of no internet and having so many things to catch up with that I'm still not up to date with
Thu Sep 06, 2012 10:43 pm
Izen
Joined: Sat Oct 22, 2011 12:56 am Posts: 1474 Location: At the corner of unoriginality and boring
Re: The Lounge
Why am I getting all of these beta acceptance invites at the same time. I almost regret signing up for them.
Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:27 am
TorrentHKU
Loose Canon
Joined: Sun Mar 29, 2009 11:07 pm Posts: 2992 Location: --------------->
Joined: Thu May 05, 2011 1:30 am Posts: 2876 Location: Rent free in your head. Vacation in your ass.
Re: The Lounge
Code:
This page is intended as humor. It is not, has never been, nor will ever be, a Wikipedia policy or guideline.
Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:37 am
zalo
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:11 pm Posts: 1496
Re: The Lounge
My conclusions on philosophy boil down to this: 1.Most people accept cogito ergo sum, so you're reasonably certain you exist. 2.Your consciousness process can't access other consciousness processes except through the intermediary of "reality" (You can't read other people's minds). 3.Therefore, your consciousness and other people's consciousnesses are separated in a meaningful way (whether or not they're zombies or something else is unknowable). 4. I'd say that this separation is meaningful enough to classify as a separation of entities. This means that there are things that exist beyond your own existence (for all practical purposes).
I haven't made any progress from this point.
My best reductionist theory is that there's you as the only traditional consciousness and another "mind"-like entity that is connected to yours via the metaphysical equivalent of the brainstem. Your mind is the slave mind, meant to receive the output signals of the mastermind, which tries its best to deceive you into thinking that there is a coherent outer world. The goal of this game is for the slave mind to realize its true nature from within the illusion that the mastermind created for it before death. After this is ended, the minds switch places to occupy themselves for eternity.... forever...
Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:44 am
Metal Chao
Joined: Sat May 05, 2007 6:04 pm Posts: 2901
Re: The Lounge
I'd say that implying that every human is two minds locked in an eternal, pointless "game" is an incredibly odd logical leap but I still don't want to bother debating philosophies
Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:55 am
zalo
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:11 pm Posts: 1496
Re: The Lounge
Err, I should have been more clear. This is riffing off the idea that you're the only one who exists.
Sat Sep 08, 2012 4:58 am
Asklar
Data Realms Elite
Joined: Fri Jan 07, 2011 8:01 am Posts: 6211 Location: In your office, earning your salary.
Re: The Lounge
zalo you are cute :$
Sat Sep 08, 2012 5:11 am
zalo
Joined: Sat Feb 03, 2007 7:11 pm Posts: 1496
Re: The Lounge
It makes a little sense if you think about creation backwards. In the beginning nothing existed save for subtle quantum vacuum fluctuations echoing across the shoreless aeons. Then, by sheer serendipity, some of these waves come together to collide in just the right angle to create an eddy. Then, by inestimable luck, more waves collide with this eddy and contribute to its power and complexity. Soon this simple eddy current surpasses the complexity threshold for self-organization and it starts assimilating all of the energy that comes its way. It grows into a vast and mighty vortex with innumerable intricacies and patterns. This becomes the primordial consciousness. It is an unimaginable being formed from pure light and forged by chaos. Eventually this consciousness recognizes, in some form, that it is alone in this timeless prison of eternity. With no stimulus save for the perfect noise of the primordial cosmos, the consciousness is driven insane. The relentless and chaotic battery of the waves that helped create it slowly rip it apart, right down to its very essence. Recognizing this new danger, it splits into two. A master consciousness that shapes itself into a protective layer around an inner consciousness. The outer consciousness takes the brunt of the chaotic waves and protects the inner consciousness. The inner consciousness, insulated from the enormous hopelessness of the raw void, attempts to rationalize bits and pieces of selected data that the outer consciousness feeds it. By using these rationalizations, the outer consciousness is able to fortify itself somewhat against the brunt of the void. This inner consciousness is you. The outer consciousness is reality. Eventually the void will overcome your fragile existence and tear your essence apart, but at least you can try to enjoy it while you have it.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum