Search found 13 matches

by Synthetic
Tue May 05, 2009 8:59 am
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Character
Replies: 8
Views: 13918

That's the thing I struggle with. Maybe everyone needs to graduate with a philosophy degree, then we could all plow forward...carefully... (if only it were that easy) The problem is—as I hinted in my previous post—that perfect knowledge of our choices would be impossible. Because we would not only ...
by Synthetic
Fri May 01, 2009 3:27 pm
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Do you trust your perception and understanding?
Replies: 22
Views: 32776

Sorry about taking my time, been absurdly busy lately. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time these following weeks. Ok, I guess I was interpreting your meaning as a macroscopic 'we cannot know' but I suspect now that it is the microscopic instead. Sort of like the different models of atoms. Since we a...
by Synthetic
Wed Mar 04, 2009 8:20 am
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Do you trust your perception and understanding?
Replies: 22
Views: 32776

Re: Do you trust your perception and understanding?

Well I don't know what a "scientific realist" is so I cannot answer that, but your description of what is real depended upon another model. I am saying that there is a reality to be observed. And that we are simply discussing the validity of sensory observation as an accurate method to kn...
by Synthetic
Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:42 pm
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Do you trust your perception and understanding?
Replies: 22
Views: 32776

Re: Do you trust your perception and understanding?

Thanks for the reply Freitag No, reality being what is real. A scientific description of reality is just another model made by minds - following a specific set of rules. I don't quite get what you are saying here, "reality being what is real" is a tautology, so it's not telling me anything...
by Synthetic
Sun Mar 01, 2009 4:20 pm
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Character
Replies: 8
Views: 13918

Character

It seems to me that there is great crisis approaching, something that is of a unprecedented scale in the whole of human history. Now it probably comes to no chock to people here that in time, we will be able to changes our bodies according to our wishes. But what happens when we start to tamper with...
by Synthetic
Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:28 pm
Forum: IRC Channel
Topic: Chat! Chat! Chat! (Official IRC Channel - Details)
Replies: 26
Views: 47712

I'm pleased to see people chatting on the Boards (esp in the Philosophy section!), and I think you're right--along the lines of "build it, and they will come." Of course, like anything, it ebbs and flows, especially over ten years. (Sometimes I've been part of the ebbs!) This version of t...
by Synthetic
Sun Mar 01, 2009 3:23 pm
Forum: And More ...
Topic: Reading anything?
Replies: 18
Views: 24209

Reading anything?

I was wondering what people here are reading (other than GitS of course). As for myself, I like to read a few books simultaneously so I can pick something that feels right for the moment. The books that I am reading now are; Neurophilosophy (just finished), Women Fire and Dangerous Things (just star...
by Synthetic
Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:58 am
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Do you trust your perception and understanding?
Replies: 22
Views: 32776

Re: Do you trust your perception and understanding?

You stir up some interesting questions there Freitag. Now, lets see if I understand what you are saying: You believe that our minds make a model of reality, reality being the world described by science. Implicit in this is that minds are representational and their main task is processing information...
by Synthetic
Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:08 am
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: I think scientists.. are watching GitS to predict the future
Replies: 10
Views: 15472

Lets not forget that some things will look different from how is it depicted in GitS and how it is actually will be simply because GitS is a few years old now and the story designers were constrained to their then present-time to make decisions on how the future would look. Perfect example is look ...
by Synthetic
Fri Feb 27, 2009 7:35 am
Forum: IRC Channel
Topic: Chat! Chat! Chat! (Official IRC Channel - Details)
Replies: 26
Views: 47712

Gandhi (I had to cheat to find out) just start posting...talk about anything...people may come back to the site and not posting simply because they see no activity and feel their thoughts will go unheard. Kind of like osmosis. Once the content is on the rise we might see an influx of people trough t...
by Synthetic
Sun Feb 22, 2009 7:50 pm
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: Do you trust your perception and understanding?
Replies: 22
Views: 32776

I think I can pin down the complete erosion of my trust in my senses to a number of things I have experienced. 1. Kant I still remember how obsessed I became (and still am) with Kant's division of perception and reality. I must have been 15 or so and at the time I saw it as a problem, now I think I ...
by Synthetic
Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:12 pm
Forum: IRC Channel
Topic: Chat! Chat! Chat! (Official IRC Channel - Details)
Replies: 26
Views: 47712

Channel seems quite dead

I don't mind idling during European daytime, but it will get quite lonely if no one shows up once in a while.
by Synthetic
Sun Feb 22, 2009 6:05 pm
Forum: The Philosophy
Topic: I think scientists.. are watching GitS to predict the future
Replies: 10
Views: 15472

I know this tread has been dead for a while, but since things seem to move slowly here at the moment I'll comment a bit. I'm quite sure that Kurzweil predictions have little to do with GitS, as his first predictions date back to his first book, that was published in -90. And the GitS manga (wtf fire...