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Do Our Questions Create the World?

blogs.scientificamerican.com

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Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#31

Post by TeMPOraL »

opportune wrote: post #23
Tiki wrote: post #5

Towards the end of the article was the question I had all along reading it: "Where was mind when the universe was born? And what sustained the universe for the billions of years before we came to be? He nonetheless bravely offers us a lovely, chilling paradox: At the heart of everything is a question, not an answer. When we peer down into the deepest recesses of matter or at the farthest edge of the universe, we see,…

I agree, it’s not profound except at face value. Just strikes me as extremely vague and hand-wavy metaphysics This is the reason that a lot of people don’t like philosophy - because people hide behind verbal tricks which have little meaning beyond sounding “deep”. Green ideas sleep furiously

I agree. If you immediately know the candle light is fire, then the meal was cooked a long time ago.

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#32

Post by dang »

eli_gottlieb wrote: post #17

>Quantum theorist John Wheeler’s “it from bit” hypothesis anticipated ongoing speculation that consciousness is fundamental to reality Flagged for pseudoscience.

The article is obviously on topic for HN. Accounts that flag like this eventually lose flagging privileges.

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#33

Post by optimuspaul »

empath75 wrote: post #20
Tiki wrote: post #5

Towards the end of the article was the question I had all along reading it: "Where was mind when the universe was born? And what sustained the universe for the billions of years before we came to be? He nonetheless bravely offers us a lovely, chilling paradox: At the heart of everything is a question, not an answer. When we peer down into the deepest recesses of matter or at the farthest edge of the universe, we see,…

> Where was mind when the universe was born? And what sustained the universe for the billions of years before we came to be? The past was created when people started probing it, in the same sense that the present is.

That is what I was thinking as well... made me wonder, did my mind create your comment 2 hours in the past when I had the thought? Are you even real?

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#34

Post by alexpetralia »

mnw21cam wrote: post #2

No. No, I think the world would still be there if we didn't question it. Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. (Philip K. Dick)

My metaphysical philosophy has always been:

- Objective truth: the physical world as it is. There are no "chairs" in this world (would an ant recognize a chair, or a bacteria?) - only data from which we can derive patterns.

- Consensus truth: what people have agreed to be true, often via perception or abstract logic. This is math, that is red, this is a chair, that is democracy.

- Subjective truth: what I believe to be true, by my own rationality or my own perception. This can sometimes deviate from consensus truth (eg. optical illusions).

There must be a term for this philosophical position, but I haven't found it yet (or the thinker associated with it). Obviously this is due to my ignorance because this is not a particularly profound metaphysical position to take.

Does anyone know the name of this?

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#35

Post by optimuspaul »

irickt wrote: post #24
s-shellfish wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For as much as reality is patterned, and can be comprehend 'absolutely' in a pragmatic, utilitarian sense - there's also another side to awareness (or many, I can never be sure). Imagine that everything that has to do with 'mind' is just as comprehensible in a different way. Or rather, imagine that that awareness 'takes over' or 'overrides' the natural awareness one was taught or learned to comprehend 'reality' with.…

Over a few decades Scientific American has gone from deep research reports, to pop science, and now to untestable cosmic thinking and other clickbait. If it is not testable it is not scientific thinking. Philosphical thinking may also be grounded in recurring phenomena or be completely blue-sky. A philosophy that premises alternate reality begins by ignoring how underdetermined is the human brain when reflecting on i…

I think you may be looking at the past through a filter. Perhaps you definition of pop science has drifted over the past few decades.

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#36

Post by rags2riches »

I can't claim to understand the first thing about quantum mechanics, but whenever I read about it I always come to think of lazy evaluation. Then I want to know if it's there simply for performance reasons or if it's to enable an infinite universe.

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#37

Post by sbjs »

Tiki wrote: post #5

Towards the end of the article was the question I had all along reading it: "Where was mind when the universe was born? And what sustained the universe for the billions of years before we came to be? He nonetheless bravely offers us a lovely, chilling paradox: At the heart of everything is a question, not an answer. When we peer down into the deepest recesses of matter or at the farthest edge of the universe, we see,…

[flagged]

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#38

Post by n4r9 »

alexpetralia wrote: post #34
mnw21cam wrote: post #2

No. No, I think the world would still be there if we didn't question it. Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. (Philip K. Dick)

My metaphysical philosophy has always been: - Objective truth: the physical world as it is. There are no "chairs" in this world (would an ant recognize a chair, or a bacteria?) - only data from which we can derive patterns. - Consensus truth: what people have agreed to be true, often via perception or abstract logic. This is math, that is red, this is a chair, that is democracy. - Subjective truth: what I believe to…

I don't know any name for it but I've wondered about those same delineations (my term for the second is "consensus-based reality"). I worry about to what extent the first one can be said to definitely exist.

Re: Do Our Questions Create the World?

#39

Post by n4r9 »

irickt wrote: post #10

Ugh. Has Scientific American become PseudoScientific American? Recently they published this https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/observations/could-mult... by an author who believes ""There is only cosmic consciousness. We, as well as all other living organisms, are but dissociated alters of cosmic consciousness, surrounded by its thoughts. The inanimate world we see around us is the revealed appearance of these thou…

Should we dismiss someone's writings because of other things they believe? Newton was convinced that the Bible contained hidden meanings and spent great amounts of time trying to extract scientific information and prophecies from it.
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