Today I have two listeners on as guests to provide some feedback on the recent Elijiah T episodes. Some of my listeners reacted a bit negatively to Elijiah and I’m curious to find out why. Let’s see if I can find some answers!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 44:15 — 40.6MB)
Subscribe: RSS
Thomas I think I have an analogy for you regarding the difference between faith, and even trust, and things like the problem of induction, or the idea that we’re just a brain in a vat. I agree the latter are not things we accept on faith. Here’s the analogy. Imagine you’re kidnapped, taken in an airplane, have a parachute strapped to your back, and are thrown out the door. When you pull the ripcord is it because you have faith it will save you? I would say no, it’s because you’re left with no other choice than to try it, just as we have no choice to live our lives using induction, and assuming we aren’t a brain in a vat.
Right, I agree. That’s a good way to describe it.
Aroung 18:00 minute mark. Regarding there being a god and the fact there are consequences vs people around you not having consciousness.
You said there are no consequences to them not being conscious. There absolutely are consequences. Your behavior changes if you believe they have no consciousness. You will treat them different and your opinion of their lack of consciousness will affect every decision you make regarding them.
Simple example, would you even bother to say hi as a greeting? or ask their opinion about anything? Why bother, they aren’t conscious.
I think you would still behave the same if you believed that no one else was truly conscious because they would still behave “as if” they were conscious. The problem of other peoples internal states has to do with the fact that you couldn’t tell if someone truly was conscious or was simply an automaton perfectly imitating conscious behaviour. So if you started treating the p zombies(to borrow the philisophical term) like you would some mindless robot they would react with exactly the same disdain and anger a fully conscious person would. You would be perfectly logical and reasonable to treat them as if they were just like you regardless of their internal states because that would still get you the best and most predictable outcomes.
This is exactly right. Thanks I was going to respond with this but you saved me some sentences!
Regarding induction
It currently works, the physical laws of the universe appear to be always the same.
We know this because of the results (evidence ) of the world around us (results of our technologically advanced world) . We proportion our beliefs to the strength of the evidence.
We know it works because science gives repeated results so (for now) we are justified in believing induction works.
When in the future we begin to see that when we throw a ball in the air it doesn’t come down, well at that time we will need to evaluate the situation regarding induction.
Regarding your wife, my wife anyway, I have zero faith that she is (faithful) ENGLISH IS FUNNY.
I have rather large body of evidence she is faithful to me.
Small list – she calls me everyday asking how my day was.
She asks my opinion on a great many things.
She touches me, kisses me bla bla bla
She requests to spend a lot of her free time with me.
On and on
Studies show there are also a long list of indicators that your spouse may be cheating and she meets almost none of the criteria.
That large body of evidence justifies my belief that she is faithful.
I don’t need any faith.
Around 34:30 you say he may have argument that we may find evidence consistent with a universe that must be created means he may have a point.
But no he still wouldn’t have a point. What about universe creating pixies or universe creating aliens, even if the universe was created we still can’t logically default to it being a god that created it.