We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

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AgnosticBoy
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We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #1

Post by AgnosticBoy »

On another thread, one member stated the following regarding consciousness:
Bubuche87 wrote: Wed Apr 05, 2023 6:41 pm Where you are begging the question is when you assume that the mind (i e. Something immaterial) is responsible for that, when the brain (network of neurons plugged to stimulus from the outside world + a bunch of accidents of evolution) can perfectly be pointed as the source of those behavior.

Before assuming something immaterial is responsible for a phenomenon, starts by proving something immaterial exist to begin with.
Not only am I skeptical of this claim, which is a common claim made by atheists, but I also get annoyed by the level of confidence that people have in the above claim. If the researchers that study consciousness acknowledge that it presents a 'hard problem', then why should I believe any claims that explain consciousness as being physical? In my view, there are good reasons to doubt that consciousness is material or physical. The way I look at it is that even if consciousness is physical, it is still unlike any other physical phenomenon in the Universe. The main reason for that is that the presence of subjectivity. As it stands, subjective experiences can only be observed by the subject. Also, they are not measurable nor observable from the third-person point-of-view. Don't all of those characteristics sound familiar to some thing else? Immaterial or non-physical (also being unobservable, not measurable, etc.)?

Please debate:
1. Is it arrogant to claim that consciousness is physical?
2. Are there good reasons to doubt that it is physical? Or do you agree with the point from the post I quoted at the beginning of this post?
Last edited by AgnosticBoy on Fri Apr 07, 2023 4:37 am, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #131

Post by boatsnguitars »

William wrote: Sun Jul 30, 2023 1:18 pm [Replying to Gracchus in post #127]
...seem to indicate that "consciousness" is a physical phenomenon arising from neural activity,...
Please explain "physical phenomena". Is it a way of saying "a physical thing [brain] creating a non-physical non-thing [mind]" or does it mean something else?
Physical phenomenon: Ripple in a lake, echo, mirage, etc.

"physical phenomenon" = (with respect to consciousness) any observable or measurable activity in the brain or the physical substrate of the nervous system that is associated with conscious experiences and mental processes.
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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #132

Post by Eloi »

The way I see it: if consciousness were physical, thoughts could be photographed. Actually, the brain couldn't resist so many of them ... at some point it would be totally full.

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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #133

Post by Clownboat »

Eloi wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 10:40 am The way I see it: if consciousness were physical, thoughts could be photographed. Actually, the brain couldn't resist so many of them ... at some point it would be totally full.
Your thoughts are super duper cool! 8-)
With that said, what are your thoughts about the thoughts of neuroscientists and how they suggest that consciousness is an emergent property of a functioning brain? When it comes to brains, do neuroscientist even have a basic understanding you think?

Why do you think the same parts of the brain light up when a person is discussing their favorite football team compared to their favorite god concept? Perhaps that is where the soul lives and souls really, really love them some football?
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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #134

Post by Eloi »

Conciousness is NOT physical.

It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.

People with bigger heads are not smarter than others. :P

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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #135

Post by William »

[Replying to boatsnguitars in post #131]
Physical phenomenon: Ripple in a lake, echo, mirage, etc.
All of those things are physical. Therefore the mind, while invisible, must be physical, rather than non-physical/supernatural.

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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #136

Post by William »

Eloi wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:50 pm Conciousness is NOT physical.

It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.

People with bigger heads are not smarter than others. :P
For this to be true, one would have to be able to show how big a thought is and why a brain cannot contain them all.

Asserting that the mind is either non-physical or supernatural brings with it the problem of answering how minds can organize matter into functional forms, whereas accepting that the mind is physical in nature, solves that problem.

Why think of the mind as a non-physical reaction created by a physical thing (brain) ?
Last edited by William on Mon Jul 31, 2023 1:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #137

Post by boatsnguitars »

Eloi wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:50 pm Conciousness is NOT physical.

It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.

People with bigger heads are not smarter than others. :P
Not true. The Supernatural is far bigger. It is well known that it's 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag.
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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #138

Post by Eloi »

Eloi wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 12:50 pm Conciousness is NOT physical.

It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.

People with bigger heads are not smarter than others. :P
How the last two posts relate to mine? :shock:

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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #139

Post by DrNoGods »

[Replying to Eloi in post #134]
It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.
What? Thoughts, like consciousness, are products of brain activity. They are not some physical thing that occupies brain space so it could "fill up." Holy cow! Was that meant to be a joke?
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Re: We don't know if consciousness is physical, Period.

Post #140

Post by Eloi »

DrNoGods wrote: Mon Jul 31, 2023 3:04 pm [Replying to Eloi in post #134]
It is rational thinking: if thoughts are physical they occupy space in our brain, and the brain would be eventually full of them ...
The skull does not grow to make room for the brain to grow and store more thoughts.
What? Thoughts, like consciousness, are products of brain activity. They are not some physical thing that occupies brain space so it could "fill up." Holy cow! Was that meant to be a joke?
Hehehe, what a show!

Who said what?

Are you trying to be my friend? O:)

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