Of course, we can't be sure when we close ourselves in from any
explanation that is "meaningless".
We can run but we cannot hide from the fact that we will always have to
make assumptions that are without basis. Even when we close ourselves
in from any explanation that is not based on what we can grasp with our
brains, that step itself is ultimately unsupported. This is what I've
called rationalism *in a closed system*. Rationalism in a closed
system, the supposed path to autonomy from the transcendent, itself
requires faith.
Tom
-----Original Message-----
From: Russell Standish <r.standish.domain.name.hidden>
To: everything-list.domain.name.hidden
Sent: Tue, 21 Mar 2006 10:00:00 +1100
Subject: Re: Fw: Numbers
On Sun, Mar 19, 2006 at 11:45:43AM -0500, danny mayes wrote:
> Russell,
>
> Thats a good summary. However, my issue with your conclusion is
this:
> even if I accept that a "machine" or a "prime mover" is not
necessary,
> such explanations are still part of the plenitude and therefore part
of
> reality. So if everything is reducible to math or information, even
if
> you are correct that our reality can exist independent of these
> third-party explanations, such explanations still exist as part of
the
> totality of everything that can exist. What this would mean to me is
> that the reality I experience may occur naturally as a consequence of
> the logical bootstrapping you describe, but it would also be occuring
> through any number of artificial creations at the same time. These
> realities overlap and it would be meaningless for me to try and say
> whether the reality I am experiencing now is one or the other- it is
both.
That is precisely my point. It is meaningless to attribute the
creation of the these universes to any particular creator, or to none
at all. Hence the closure. It is a subtle point. Not everyone gets it,
and I'm not even sure of it myself.
>
> If you accept MWI or the plenitude, there are really only a few ways
to
> avoid the above argument. First, you could argue that our reality is
... deleting the rest, as I'm not trying to avoid the above argument ...
--
*PS: A number of people ask me about the attachment to my email, which
is of type "application/pgp-signature". Don't worry, it is not a
virus. It is an electronic signature, that may be used to verify this
email came from me if you have PGP or GPG installed. Otherwise, you
may safely ignore this attachment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
A/Prof Russell Standish Phone 8308 3119 (mobile)
Mathematics 0425 253119 (")
UNSW SYDNEY 2052 R.Standish.domain.name.hidden
Australia
http://parallel.hpc.unsw.edu.au/rks
International prefix +612, Interstate prefix 02
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
--~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group.
To post to this group, send email to everything-list.domain.name.hidden
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list-unsubscribe.domain.name.hidden
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list
-~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
Received on Fri Mar 24 2006 - 09:41:54 PST