Statements about the map do not translate onto the territory, and we don't actually know what the content of the territory is (unless we are the territory).
Certainty is the only measure we have of whether or not we are mistaken. Solipsism, despite being useless as a matter of practicality...
You actually can't demonstrate that the universe is billions of years old; unless we have invented time travel or time viewing that is literally impossible to do.
You can define what we think is the sun as being a star, but I defy you demonstrate controlled sustainable nuclear fusion in a lab...
I don't think there is a good way of self-defining one's own wisdom or lack thereof.
Wisdom has at its basis experience; the more difficult and taxing the experiences you have, then the more wisdom you derive from surviving said experiences.
Seeing is strong evidence, but should not be the...
Truth about our experiences do not necessarily indicate that the content of our experiences are also true. Anyone who has ever done drugs (or hallucinated for any reason) can tell you that just because it is true that you had a sensation doesn't necessarily mean that there is any real...
I have no idea what urges you are talking about that encourages men to chain up women. I also cannot think of any inborn "evil tendencies" either. Some people are born with a predisposition towards psychopathy, but that is not the same as being born with a predisposition towards evil. There...
And again that is an example of society demonizing sex related professions. If sexuality and being sexy are not somehow evil, then there is absolutely nothing wrong with being an exotic dancer.
If it is your position that there is something inherently evil about sexuality, then you need to...
Intellectual dick measuring contests aside this particular tangent has gone on far too long.
Kilgore: You have not addressed the factual existence of tangible gains made as a result of philosophy of science and human rationality. You are either cherry picking whom you address, which means you...
If the condition on the gun is such that it will not be used on the hostage, then shoot the trigger; entry team waits for second sniper shot to kill hostage taker. QED?
MTF
Define "harm."
Am I not allowed to use flashbangs because blinding and deafening the hostage temporarily constitutes "harm?"
If flashbangs are allowed, then you could use like 30 of them to flash vaporize the water, and thus negating the electrocution whilst simultaneously shooting the gun...
Definition:
Superstition- Superstition is a belief in supernatural causality: (wikipedia goes on to state much more on the subject, but that is the relevant portion)
In order to be Superstition one must believe that a supernatural causal agency exists. My point was that the use...
How would anyone know the difference between a world where something was pre-destined and a world where something was mandated via a chain of cause and effect? The two seem nearly indistinguishable to me; the only difference seems to be at the very height of whatever system is in place (the...
We have found evidence of life on Mars; just nothing that is viewed as conclusive by the scientific community. In point of fact some folks think Mars may have been the origination point for life on Earth.
And while I don't think that we are the "crowning achievement" of Earth (that seems...
1) Granted
2) Conclusion does not necessarily follow from the premise. Consciousness is insufficiently evidenced to be able to make strong claims the way you are. In point of fact we have some evidence that points to processing taking place outside the brain.
3) Death need not do so, and...
Excellent question: "What else is missing?" Brains are not actually capable of better memory potential. With distributed processing and distributed storage we have systems today that have a great deal more storage capacity than the brain (by a large amount). If you look at the actual...
It is not possible to know anything with 100% certainty with the exception of contradiction and tautology, and possibly including that you exist, so there isn't anything that could conclusively prove that no deity or "God" could exist.
But that is a "mere technicality." If you explored the...
It is a distinction which makes a great deal of difference IF and WHEN we consider the origination/maintenance of reality. It makes no difference in practical matters as it has no discernible impact on the content of the laws of physics or the probabilities of what happens.
Yes, it is...
So we should presuppose that our current information gathering methods and paradigms are the absolute best that they could possible be and that investigation into those topics would be a complete waste of time?
The philosophy of science has lead to critique and investigations into the veracity...
If you were to divide what we don't know about reality by what we do know about reality, then you would get a very large number possibly infinity. (Paraphrasing Edward Teller)
The quintessential questions of rationality are: "What do you know?" & "How do you know it?" The amount of...
I don't think you quite recognize just how bad the situation is; extremes have always been what is required in order to effect change for the better. I can rattle off the top of head probably a dozen different technologies which would solve our various energy problems; none of them are in the...