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SalixIncendium

अग्निविलोवनन्दः
Staff member
Premium Member
Sentience is defined as the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively.

Decartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." Sentience, as defined, is exclusive of thought (reason). So by that logic, one can be without the ability to reason, rendering Descartes' quote incorrect.

In your opinion, is it more correct to say, "I feel, perceive, and experience, therefore, I am?"

From where do you think sentience originates? Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?

In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?
 

Axe Elf

Prophet
Although it could be argued that feeling, perceiving and experiencing subjectively are all thought processes, it could also be argued that as one goes down the evolutionary chain, there exist nervous systems so primitive that while a creature is sentient, their sentience as expressed by their ability to feel and perceive involves little more than reflex arcs and couldn't really be considered "thoughts" in the ordinary sense, and certainly not reasoned thoughts.

But that's all kind of beside the point, in that the logical error you have committed in your post does not rely on the definition of thinking; rather it is the error known as "denying the antecedent." This fallacy takes the form, "If A, then B; not A, therefore, not B."

Descartes' statement, "I think, therefore I am," when translated into formal logic, becomes, "If I think, then I am." You are attempting to deny the truth of Descartes' statement by pointing out that there are things that exist that do NOT think, which is of course blatantly true. We don't even have to consider creatures with primitive nervous systems to find things that exist but don't think--like rocks and glasses of water and TV sets.

However, it is still true that IF one thinks, THEN one exists. The act of thinking itself is a sufficient proof of existence, even if things may exist that do not think.
 

Eddi

Agnostic
Premium Member
Sentience is defined as the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively.

Decartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." Sentience, as defined, is exclusive of thought (reason). So by that logic, one can be without the ability to reason, rendering Descartes' quote incorrect.

In your opinion, is it more correct to say, "I feel, perceive, and experience, therefore, I am?"

From where do you think sentience originates? Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?

In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?

This has always interested me greatly:

I believe we cannot be sapient (i.e. think) without being sentient, that for a mind to work and be a mind it needs to be conscious, so I’d definitely say: “I feel therefore I am” rather than “I think therefore I am”.

I believe in God and Simulism – I believe that our sentience is a property of The Simulation and indeed a part of The Simulation, but that it is divine in nature – indeed a part of God: as is all sentience in the ultimate reality in which The Simulation exists, including the sentience of the overseers of The Simulation and all the other folk who exist out in the outside world.

In my belief system sentience survives the body, as the body is illusory and information-based whereas one's sentience is real and a part of God, who is the highest and most fundamental tier of reality. So I'd say that I believe sentience starts with God, and is the divine spark in each of us.
 

Brickjectivity

wind and rain touch not this brain
Staff member
Premium Member
Sentience is defined as the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively.

Decartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." Sentience, as defined, is exclusive of thought (reason). So by that logic, one can be without the ability to reason, rendering Descartes' quote incorrect.

In your opinion, is it more correct to say, "I feel, perceive, and experience, therefore, I am?"

From where do you think sentience originates? Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?

In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?
Sentience appears to be any function of time which observes time or itself in relation to the passing of time. For example the cat (a function of time) observes time or itself when it pounces. It guesses where the mouse will be and jumps towards that point. A bird observes time or itself when flying. A spider observes time or itself when baiting a web. A man tries to predict when the crops will grow. God knows when they will grow but is not necessarily a function of time and therefore not necessarily sentient.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
I don't like strict definitions of things which exist in a continuum.
Consider unquantified degrees of sentience, ranging from microbes to humans.
 
Sentience is defined as the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively.

Decartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." Sentience, as defined, is exclusive of thought (reason). So by that logic, one can be without the ability to reason, rendering Descartes' quote incorrect.

In your opinion, is it more correct to say, "I feel, perceive, and experience, therefore, I am?"

From where do you think sentience originates? Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?

In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?

Sentience comes from the soul/spirit/mind, whatever word you wanna use there. The soul comes from God. It continues after the expiration of the body/brain. The body/brain/physical universe also comes from God too.
 

George-ananda

Advaita Vedanta, Theosophy, Spiritualism
Premium Member
From where do you think sentience originates?
Consciousness (sentience) is fundamental and a mystery to our reasoning minds. It does not originate from anything else.
Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?
It is not a product of anything. It is a fundamental constituent of reality.
In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?
In my belief structure sentience/Consciousness/God/Brahman is eternal and survives the death of bodies.
 

Twilight Hue

Twilight, not bright nor dark, good nor bad.
Sentience is defined as the capacity to feel, perceive, and experience subjectively.

Decartes once said, "I think, therefore I am." Sentience, as defined, is exclusive of thought (reason). So by that logic, one can be without the ability to reason, rendering Descartes' quote incorrect.

In your opinion, is it more correct to say, "I feel, perceive, and experience, therefore, I am?"

From where do you think sentience originates? Is it a product of the mind? Or is it a product of something else?

In your religion or belief structure, does sentience end upon the expiration of the body and mind, or does it survive?
Sentience is multifaceted. I tend to think of it is as chemical communication and stimulus. Reactive chemistry basically.
 
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