Epiphenomenalism[I] is a brand of dualism in which mind and matter are two different manifestations of existence, but holding mind to be ontologically inferior to matter, and there is some form of logical flow – not necessarily causality per se – from matter to mind. The term as used in the late 19th century provides another analogy through its definition: a secondary symptom of a...
The following is inspired by my notes beginning in chapter 2 of Scaruffi’s book. In the tradition of philosophy, there have been different attitudes and relations to the issue of consciousness. For the most part, consciousness was something incorporated into the architectonic of a particular philosopher; this allows for an impressive array of contexts and perspectives. For instance, there...
The first question is, “What is the mind”. I agree with Socrates that to begin we need to understand the question. “Mind” is a loose term that includes different phenomenon that are (seemingly) associated. I am not discarding this paltry scrapheap of words because at least it includes a reasonable philosophical strategy, and that is in itself worthy of further application...
Time and space are the changing acting on the unchanging
(I wonder if this is the difference between mind and matter).
Editorial notes: Early in August 2013, Shai joins a site called “750 Words” which encourages members to submit a daily post consisting of roughly 750 words, approximately three pages. The site explains its purpose as: “The idea is that if you can get in the habit of writing three pages a day, that it will help clear your mind and get the ideas flowing for the rest of the day.” If you are in a...
A pseudo-essay informed and inspired by Condillac’s philosophy, that aims to describe a monadology of experience as a paradigm underlining autodidacticity and an autodidactic method: I’ve been active and interested in creating what I’ve tongue-in-cheek been referring to as the monadology of experience, which I’ve used to mean, “the independent units from which we...
This is Nature October 10 2013, Vol. 502, Iss. 7470, Pp. 141-264. Big weapons have little downside. Secrets of trial data revealed. Earth science: The timing of climate change. Quantum physics: Watching the wavefunction collapse – – I’m not reviewing this article (but bookmarked) because I simply do not have a strong enough foundation in QM. Cell biology: Molecular clearance at...
TheMeaningOfLife.org is an essay made up of 44 points that describe the human experience from birth to death. This is a subset of a category that can be described as, “A number of lessons,” that often include advice on living (amongst the various modes of living) and explanations that make it easier to understand and thus coexist with life’s experiences. MeaningOfLife.tv can be...
Things I’ve done today include reading Scaruffi, I made a little progress in chapter 2 but soon became bogged down in details and paradigms that I must admit were a challenge. Not beyond comprehension, but requiring a slow studious read that inevitably results in a loss of perspective as regards the bigger picture, even if it does strongly assist an understanding of the content on a smaller...
An important principle I have absorbed is that while the edifice of philosophy have their values, unless one is viewing them as an historian then they are also merely tools and words; useful but not to be confused with philo-sophia: love of knowledge. Let’s raise the question, “Why read philosophical treatises?” First, it can inspire. But it can be valuable even when approached...
