Point 1b: This is what pretentious philosophers call a "reductionist" view. As in, everything can be "reduced" to a material process. There's no proof for this view...it's just a way of looking at things. (We have just as much proof for saying that every physical process can be reduced to a spiritual process. At the end of the day, we have no idea what the words "physical" and "spiritual" mean except that they are in opposition to one another.)
Point 1*: I believe the universe is all just one thing, and that that one thing operates according to laws that are outside of our control.
Point 2. Because everything is physical, everything operates according to the laws of physics.
Point 2*: Because everything is the same thing, everything behaves according to the same laws.
Point 3: Because of the laws of physics, there is a certain inevitability to everything that happens. This is what pretentious philosophers call "determinism."
Point 3*: Because the laws are constant, the behavior of the universe is determined.
Point 3b: In other words, everything that happens is a single frame in one endless roll of film, and our lives are like tiny scenes in a movie. There is only one roll of film...
Point 3c: Again, there is no proof for this. Maybe there are three rolls of film. Nobody knows.
Point 4: Because everything is determined, our thoughts and "reasons" for things are also determined.
Point 5: This means that, no matter how you explain something, there is a chemical process causing you to explain it that way.
Point 6: To me, this means that the reasons people give for many of their thoughts, beliefs and desires may not in fact be the causes of those thoughts, beliefs and desires.
Point 6b: They might in fact just be a facade.
Point 7: My conclusion is that, because our conscious mind is determined by unconscious processes, we can't really know why we think, desire, or believe anything at all.
Point 7b: In other words, all reasons could very possibly be illusions.
Where does this leave us, practically speaking?
Really in a sort of gaping black hole of not having any way to explain anything.
Which isn't very impressive from a philosophical standpoint.
Point 3b: In other words, everything that happens is a single frame in one endless roll of film, and our lives are like tiny scenes in a movie. There is only one roll of film...
Point 3c: Again, there is no proof for this. Maybe there are three rolls of film. Nobody knows.
Point 4: Because everything is determined, our thoughts and "reasons" for things are also determined.
Point 5: This means that, no matter how you explain something, there is a chemical process causing you to explain it that way.
Point 6: To me, this means that the reasons people give for many of their thoughts, beliefs and desires may not in fact be the causes of those thoughts, beliefs and desires.
Point 6b: They might in fact just be a facade.
Point 7: My conclusion is that, because our conscious mind is determined by unconscious processes, we can't really know why we think, desire, or believe anything at all.
Point 7b: In other words, all reasons could very possibly be illusions.
Where does this leave us, practically speaking?
Really in a sort of gaping black hole of not having any way to explain anything.
Which isn't very impressive from a philosophical standpoint.
If anything, I merely believe that the emperor has no clothes.
No comments:
Post a Comment