Autor: tstadmin
-
A compass that is perpetually «stuck on South»
«If someone offered you a pill that would make you permanently happy, you would be well advised to run fast and run far. Emotion is a compass that tells us what to do, and a compass that is perpetually stuck on north is worthless.» —Professor Daniel Gilbert. Department of Psychology, Harvard University «Many millions of…
-
Ideology of Reproduction versus Non-Suffering and conservatism vs progressivism
«While every sensitive being fundamentally wishes to avoid suffering and experience happiness, curiously, human societies have almost never made non-suffering and happiness their founding values. Why? The ideology of reproduction has existed for 100,000 years, while the belief that the spirit survives the death of the body appears. We must reproduce so that a progeny…
-
What does «more suffering than happiness» means?
In Magnus Vinding‘s [1] words [2]: I think there is a problem with underspecified [in expressions] like “more suffering than happiness” […] For example, talking about “whether suffering or enjoyment is more common” (in this piece [3]) sounds rather descriptive, whereas saying that, or whether, “suffering predominates” (ibid.) will often have evaluative and/or moral connotations.…
-
The science of consciousness and the science of suffering
Most of us are primarily interested in the problem of suffering, and secondarily in the question of consciousness. Because suffering is a phenomenal phenomenon we need to know what is consciousness. This seems to be important in how we approach the question of consciousness here. Currently, the science of consciousness and the science of suffering…
-
A quick summary on Sentient Platonism
Sentience Platonism is the idea that experiences exist by themselves, regardless of the sentient beings who experience them. How is that possible? Our minds could be like radio receivers capable of connecting some “station”. The mind, as the radio-receiver, does not generate anything new, but connects to something that preexists. Is it compatible with emergentism?…
-
Implications of a plausible Sentience Platonism in the prevention of suffering
Even if the probability of Sentience Platonism were extremely small, while there is a higher than zero probability, and considering that is not very clear where sentience comes from, we might think twice before disregarding this idea, because should it be true, its implications for preventing suffering would be immense. In Sentience Platonism we can…
-
Monism, dualism, trialism, quadrialism and beyond
«Monistic theories (monism) defend a single type of substance that composes reality (for example, matter -materialism-. Others instead claim that the spirit or psyche -panpsychism-). Dualistic theories (dualism) defend two types of substances (for example, body and mind) or two worlds (earth and sky). Trialist theories (trialism) defend the existence of three types of substances…
-
The metaphysics of the end of suffering
Things do not fall down, but are attracted to the center of planet Earth, this being a model that can be complicated including other celestial bodies. The difference is not important at the local level, but it is fundamental to understand it if our plan includes escaping from the planet. In the same way, knowing…