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Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

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Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#3

Post by RevRal »

ice_man wrote: post #2

It was written by this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ak5Lr3qkW0 An illustrative image of who he is: http://onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/chris-lang...

"Perhaps men of genius are the only true men.... Without the help of the real man, we should have found out almost nothing at all.... And the rest of us -- what are we? Teachable animals."

Huxley on Sidis

Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#5

Post by etherael »

This fellow seems a little intellectually insecure to me, his style of writing / communication displayed in both the youtube videos and his theory, he appears to be making it complex to illustrate that he's capable of grasping complex things, rather than needing to illustrate actually complex ideas.

The finishing points about "god" without ever really nailing down an empirical definition of the term beyond "indeterminate omnipresent universey type stuff" strikes me as kind of disingenuous also.

Still, I don't doubt he has some mental agility, and it certainly looks like the world has dealt him a harsh hand, and I'm quite familiar with what circumstance can do personally.

Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#6

Post by pohl »

etherael wrote: post #5

This fellow seems a little intellectually insecure to me, his style of writing / communication displayed in both the youtube videos and his theory, he appears to be making it complex to illustrate that he's capable of grasping complex things, rather than needing to illustrate actually complex ideas. The finishing points about "god" without ever really nailing down an empirical definition of the term beyond "indetermi…

I agree, and though I wouldn't presume to place myself anywhere north of the meaty center of the bell curve, I'm nevertheless confident that I can see the Achilles Heel in his world view: he does not hold logic to be a mere tool - one that can be misused, and one with intrinsic limitations. [1]

Logic can be misused because it is only as good as one's starting assumptions. Moreover, even when you have some very nice sets of initial axioms, like those of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory, logic necessarily leads you (if you can follow Gödel) to the conclusion that any effectively generated theory capable of expressing elementary arithmetic cannot be both consistent and complete.

And, it strikes me, that elementary arithmetic is small potatoes in in comparison to the grandiose goal of obviating faith through a logically-proven god.

This guy might be fun to have a beer with, though.

[1] I didn't come to this conclusion through the linked article alone. Watch the youtube video that ice_man posted, and you'll see it in the first 60 seconds of him talking. This video, by the way, is an excellent study in propaganda filmmaking techniques. (Watch all 3 parts.)

Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#7

Post by overzeroe »

etherael wrote: post #5

This fellow seems a little intellectually insecure to me, his style of writing / communication displayed in both the youtube videos and his theory, he appears to be making it complex to illustrate that he's capable of grasping complex things, rather than needing to illustrate actually complex ideas. The finishing points about "god" without ever really nailing down an empirical definition of the term beyond "indetermi…

Wow, I wish I could upvote your comment twice.

Well, not really, but it just made my morning to see someone being so reasonable (as in your last sentences) instead of just yelling "He's a pretentious idiot who can't talk clearly".

Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#8

Post by pohl »

10ren wrote: post #4
ice_man wrote: post #2

It was written by this guy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ak5Lr3qkW0 An illustrative image of who he is: http://onemansblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/11/chris-lang...

That video is a chilling cautionary tale.

Yes...a cautionary tale about giving too much weight to the Intelligence Quotient metric, and how it might lend a semblance of credibility to conservative agitprop dismissive of Darwin, the university system, and progressive federal expenditures. ;-)

Re: Cognitive Theoretic Model of the Universe

#9

Post by diiq »

I am always disappointed when someone cloaks their ideas in such thick intellectual veneer. I can't do justice to someone else's voice, but a few minutes were all that was necessary to make the first paragraph sound like a person:

(translated from semi-scientific posturing) "One of the things that makes us human is thinking about the big picture. Unfortunately, it's easy to make simple mistakes in the attempt think about the biggest picture: the universe. (Please understand that by 'the universe', I mean to say everything; it makes no sense to me to speak of things that aren't a part of the universe.) I sometimes unthinkingly imagine about the universe as the collection of all the things that exist; and that makes sense, doesn't it? Maybe not. What about pi? The relationship between a the diameter of a circle and it's circumference appears in all kinds of surprising places --- it seems like it is an inherent part of the universe. Pi doesn't exist on it's own, though; at least, I can't imagine pi, floating in space all by itself. Pi seems to be a part of the fabric in which everything else exists. Any theory of the universe must take that fabric into account as well. As far as anyone can tell, the laws that underly the universe, the fabric, is the same everywhere. The fabric unifies the universe. So if I try to think about the universe sensibly, I can't talk about anything outside of it (a philosopher might say 'use monism instead of dualism'), and I must explain the unified whole (holism rather than reductionism)."

Chris Langan, wherever you are, you can do it! Don't be afraid to show your ideas to the world naked as the moment you thought them. The worst you can do is be wrong, and that's not bad at all.

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