On 04/05/07, marc.geddes.domain.name.hidden <marc.geddes.domain.name.hidden> wrote:
It seems to me that 'coarse graining' could provide a means for time
> to 'stratify' into different levels. Now let me elaborate a little.
> Coarse graining is the 'level of detail' at which we observe reality.
> If we observe reality 'with a magnifying glass' as it were, we see
> lots of details. As we 'zoom out' and observe more higher level
> general features of reality, detailed information is lost. The
> question is: Is it really true that the higher level descriptions of
> reality are completely *reducible* to the lower level descriptions of
> reality? (See for instance 'Non-reductive physicalism'). The idea
> here is that 'the higher level' dsecriptions come about because of
> coarse graining and that there are features of these higher level
> descriptions that are not completely reducible to the lower level
> descriptions.
>
I've looked up "non-reductive physicalism" and it still seems to me an
oxymoron. Could a person's mental state be different even though his
physical state is unchanged? If so, then this implies that there is at least
in part some non-physical process giving rise to consciousness. It may be
the case, but it isn't physicalism.
--
Stathis Papaioannou
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Received on Sat May 05 2007 - 08:03:30 PDT