On Wed, Dec 4, 2019 at 9:33 PM Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be> wrote:
> On 3 Dec 2019, at 23:06, Bruce Kellett <bhkellet...@gmail.com> wrote: > > On Tue, Dec 3, 2019 at 8:03 PM Bruno Marchal <marc...@ulb.ac.be> wrote: > >> On 3 Dec 2019, at 03:18, Bruce Kellett <bhkellet...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> My brain currently has only one state. >> >> How do you know that? How could you know that. >> > > It is a pretty good hypothesis. > >> Other states may be consistent with my current conscious state, but these >> do not exist. The idea that I am a superposition of all brain states >> consistent with my consciousness is just idle speculation. How would you >> ever prove such a thing? >> >> We cannot prove the existence of a physical universe, and if we assume >> mechanism, we cannot see how a universe could choose one state against the >> infinitely many others which lead to the same consciousness. >> > > The answer is simple. Do not assume mechanism. Then the physical universe > is what it is, > > > In which theory of mind? Once you assume non-mechanism, you need to give > your theory of mind, and explain how it allows a unique universe. > No I don't. It is only in your mind that such a thing is necessary. Science does not need to explain everything before it gets started. A theory of mind can develop in the normal course of science -- it is not an a priori requirement. In fact, quantum mechanics has moved resolutely in the direction of eliminating any requirement of mind, measurement, or observers as fundamentals for the theory. Consequently mechanism, postulating that the physical universe arises out of the statistics over all consistent extensions of the computations underlying consciousness, is going in completely the wrong direction. By making consciousness central to your theory, you are destroying all possibility of an objective science. Putting the observer as a central element of the theory is what went wrong with the Copenhagen Interpretation of quantum mechanics. The elimination of the personal, the mind, and the observer is central to modern physics. Bruce -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/everything-list/CAFxXSLRas7SPb%2BW7vSZ5t7SOYe4tHp4tOoH%3DnXrT0rp%2BWH374g%40mail.gmail.com.
