Philosophy & Ethics

Recent correspondence directed me to the fact that there is a Philosophy section in Scientific Blogging. This is something I have kept away from, since my view of the subject follows the Pooh-Goethe paradigm [1]. However, I have just read In The Beginning - A Rough Guide To A Physicalist View Of Everything which introduced the subject of metaphysics. Now it may be customary to think that metaphysics is “that which lies beyond physics”, so the more we get our physics right, the better the metaphysics. But then Darwin had a different perspective. In his Notebook M (1838) he wrote He who…

In previous articles we examine how the brain behaved detrimistically and also how training and indoctrination would affect the information stored. In considering choices an important distinction needs to be made to avoid confusing "choices" with "decisions".  In particular, the point regarding choices is that they are made well before a decision arises. It is probably reasonable to assume that no one reading this post has killed someone.  Yet, at some level your response to the need has already been decided in your brain.  You may have a moral sense that it is wrong, you may…

I have discussed in a previous paper, (see: Unknown Mental Entities - ume) how a person can for no reason whatsoever, move his arm.  I asked: ‘who’ ordered that arm to be moved? Now since Observer (Ob) wasn’t aware of this event (Ev1), then some Unknown Mental Entity (ume) must have been responsible for the ordering of that event. I say ‘unknown’ simply because, until now, we do not know what part of the brain/Mind orders events of this particular type. Now if we look at dreams, we can discuss the following: ‘who’ creates those vivid ‘films’? Here we can add the Unconscious (U) playing…

Our universe is full of life forms of energy,nothing else,there is no single unit of space,all universe is compose of energy forms interacting in relationship with one another,the difference between each and others is how limited the logic of each,we all affect each other according to newton,realativity,quantium laws of physics, and most of all, gravity the main source of all those laws.life in every unit in our universe,is two opposit directions(negative and possitive directions)and there is direction in the middle that carry ultra small possitive or negative energy charge(neutral).Our…

What is the essence of matter? We can keep going on trying to find out the constituents of particles that make matter and that is certainly an interesting investigative path.  We have quarks and leptons and the list goes on. What is the final make up of matter that ends up producing our everyday visible and invisible reality? Superstrings enthusiasts lead us nowhere, since we can still ask the obvious: what makes up the strings? They answer ‘waves’. What constitutes these ‘waves’? And that is how it can go on and on. Just as the constituents of vision are nothingnesses (a plural of ‘…

Can it be possible that the atoms simply ‘know’ what to do as they interact with other atoms and molecules? Do they have any degree of consciousness or self-awareness like animals do? Or, are they like plants? If you ask or question whether plants have any degree of consciousness and/or self-awareness, then I reply that it would be a meaningless question because we simply do not know what plants may think, feel or sense. How can we guess whether these seemingly inanimate creatures have any sense of consciousness? We do not know and there is simply no point for us trying to ‘find out’ what…

In the first article, we explored the determinism of the brain and considered that within the constraints of brain physiology it is clear that random or indeterminate processes cannot be responsible for behavior.  Every action can be traced back to a cause, so it would seem that complete determinism is a fundamental aspect of our normal brain's operation. Our brains, however, begin accumulating and organizing information from the moment we first enter the world.  Our training and indoctrination will be fulfilled by our own experiences, by information gleaned from others, as well as…

For the Brazilians an abstract funny about the situation of their country: O Brasil é um país, no mínimo, pitoresco, essa é a razão de o número de cronistas, contistas ser tão grande, no entanto, a quantidade daquelesnque ganham a vida criando fábulas supera todos estes, afinal no Brasil Esopo seria milionário. Para aqueles que desconhecem as maravilhosas fábulas tupiniquins, esboço algumas, “A Dança da Corrupção”, “Mensalão e Mensalino”, “Sanguessugas invadem Brasília”, “Filósofo socrático domicilia na Alvorada”, além disso, não posso esquecer-me de falar-lhes ilustres leitores o que é…

There is no question that we live in a deterministic universe.  Despite some of the uncertainties and probabilities that are exhibited in the quantum world, the world we actually deal with is functionally deterministic.  While we may encounter unpredictable events, they are not random in the sense that they are without cause, or indeterminate. In fact, part of the problem in considering free will, is the idea that knowledge isn't possible without determinism, since the presumption is that past knowledge or experience can be applied to future events with consistency.  The entire…

Do you really care about the human race ? I do, and probably I do more than you do. Well, not more than you, maybe -I do not know you personally!-; but I know where you come from: the class of human beings presently alive. And I think that most of the people on this planet just believe they care about mankind, but they actually care just about themselves. Of course, one can look around and worry about mankind only if one is lucky enough to have secured his or her own personal well-being, and that of his or her relatives; one must be wealthy enough to not have to struggle with one's scarcity…