Re "There is a physical world, the illusion is the Cartesian theatre":
What is immediately given in consciousness is the Cartesian theatre. So we know that that at least is real (as real as it needs to be). The idea that there is an existing physical world independent of our being aware of it is just a concept - a "regulating idea" that we find useful in discussing the common aspects of our mental pictures and in doing science. But there is no way anyone can prove there's an objective physical world of matter "behind" the picture. Plato knew that. So did Bishop Berkeley (BARK-LEE and not BERK-LEE though the college is named after him!). So did the logical positivists. So do quantum physicists. ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <s3raphita@...> wrote : This is a physical world and I am conscious . . . how the illusion of the outer world is created is still a mystery Errrr . . . so *is there* a physical world or is it an illusion? There is a physical world, the illusion is the Cartesian theatre we have in our heads that makes us think we are perceiving the world and that there is an "us" observing it all. I call it an illusion because our heads aren't wired up with any sort of central processing unit. And sense information processing is scattered throughout the brain. Somehow it is all gathered together into a 3D movie with stereo sound and what we think of as a stable personality - but which isn't really - looking out at it all. It's the Ego trick and it's a damn good one, so good we only knew it was a trick when we couldn't find it! But we know where it all happens, so that's a start... ---In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, <no_re...@yahoogroups.com> wrote : According to Sam Harris, "there is no scientific evidence that consciousness exists in the physical world." This is a physical world and I am conscious. That rather puts the kibbosh on that idea. I suspect that what we have here is a category error. Consciousness isn't a thing so you won't ever be able to remove it and dissect it. Consciousness is a process, and one that can be measured and predicted, even altered. So to call this process a noun instead of an verb is your error and why it gets so confusing. How the illusion of the outer world is created is still a mystery though, but like all mysteries it is fathomable.
