[quote]nephorm wrote:
endgamer:
I’d like to step away from the discussion at hand for a moment to thank you for a lively, civil debate. As we see in the political forum, it seems to be rare to have a difference of opinion that doesn’t degrade into name-calling, and that shows respect for the intelligence of all those concerned.[/quote]
Well it takes at least two to tango, and I’m giving thanks too. But shucks, wouldn’t it look great to get into an internet forum knife fight over the Golden Rule? Sheesh.
how do we know that what happens in the mind is non-physical? i bet that there was a time when many believed certain things to be non-physical that are now understood to be electricity, radiation, quantum mechanics, etc.
[quote]wufwugy wrote:
how do we know that what happens in the mind is non-physical? i bet that there was a time when many believed certain things to be non-physical that are now understood to be electricity, radiation, quantum mechanics, etc.[/quote]
Nope, we don’t know that all of what happens in the mind is non-physical. However, scientists don’t make hypotheses that can’t be tested, so no scientist is going to hypothesize that there is non-physical stuff going on, unless there is somehow compelling experimental evidence that pops up.
Scientists also ascribe to something called the principle of least hypothesis. It says don’t make explanations that are more complicated than they have to be. At the moment, the simplest explanation is that all conscious phenomena are direct outgrowth of brain activity, with nothing else required.
So, science hypothesizes that the mind is all physical. But this is not a Theory like evolution or relativity, because we don’t have enough data about consciousness yet.
So if you think there is a divine spark in there somewhere you don’t have to be afraid of looking like a bumpkin. Yet.