After having discussed with Bruno Marchal about our metaphysical ideas, I
would like to summarize them and to note their similarities and their
differences. (Bruno, please correct me if I said something wrong about your
ideas).
Both Bruno and me do not say we know the absolute truth. Bruno considers his
thesis as a logical consequence of the hypothesis of mechanism (even I feel
that this hypothesis seems probable to him). I consider my ideas as
speculations and I think that particularly in such transcentental questions
we cannot be sure to know the truth.
Bruno and me believe that there might be an infinity of description levels
or approximative theories of the world, but according to Bruno's hypothesis
of mechanism, there exist one level L at a finite depth which describes us
completely, and according to my conception of the spirit, there is no such
level. See
http://www.website2u.com/log/text/reflmph/english/naturesp.htm :
"whatever is the degree of precision reached by a theory, there would always
remain a part of unknown, of undetermination, which would let a place for
spirit".
According to Bruno, at this level L, our choices are determinated by the
laws of physics, but at this level, we do not exist : in fact I do not chose
but the laws of physics chose what my body does. Here I have some
difficulties to accept the idea of Bruno which considers that we are free
because we cannot know which machine we are. Is it a real freedom or an
illusion of freedom ? Bruno does not seem to make a difference.
According to my conception of spirit, at any level our choices are not fully
determinated by the approximative laws corresponding to this level, so we
exist, but the more the level is deep, the more we "become small".
Bruno says that if we look at a level deeper than L, we see a fuzzy reality
(like in quantum physics, but it seems to me that it's fuzzy until we
observe it : when we make a measurement, we get a determinate value) : our
consciousness supervenes on several parts of the Universal Doveteller (the
program which runs all programs) which are so near that we don't perceive
any difference. But if we look under the level L, there are some differences
between these parts of the U.D. Bruno compares this with lucid dreaming.
This made Bruno say that paradoxically my conception is more determinist
than his conception, because in my conception we cannot find such a level
below L in which the reality is not determinated.
According to Bruno, the world is less determinated than the spirit.
According to me, the spirit dives down to the deepest levels of the world
and therefore has an absolute existence.
A problem raised by Bruno's idea according to which our consciousness
supervenes on an infinity of parts of the U.D. is to explain why the world
seems coherent. Why for example the table in front of me does not fly in the
air in most of the parts of the U.D. on which my consciousness supervenes ?
I suggested to Bruno that in these worlds, other strange things will
probably happen, for example my brain will explode, and I will not be able
to perceive anything in these worlds. Bruno has another interesting
explanation : he thinks that the coherent worlds are infinitely more
numerous because there is a continuous infinity of such worlds (Aleph 1) and
there are only an enumerable infinity (Aleph 0) of incoherent
("pathological") worlds.
==========================
Jacques Bailhache
Y2K Centre of Expertise (BRO)
DTN: 856 ext. 7662
Tel: +32-2 729.7662, Fax: +32-2 729.7985
Email: mailto:Jacques.Bailhache.domain.name.hidden
Visit my home page :
http://www.website2u.com/log/index.htm
http://www.byoc.com/homepage/134885/
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Received on Thu Jan 21 1999 - 09:55:28 PST