TED Conversations

David Roemer

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Materialists and those who think humans evolved from animals are irrational.

The human mind is structured like the scientific method. At the lowest level, humans observe things. This requires paying attention. At the level of intelligence, humans ask questions and invent possible answers. At the level of reflective judgment, humans marshal evidence and decide what is true or just probable. The next level is free will, that is, deciding what to do with our bodies.

Materialists say animals pay attention and are intelligent and rational. They don't say, however, that animals have free will. What they say is that free will is an illusion.

Related Talks:
+1
Share:

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.

  • thumb

    David Roemer

    • 0
    Aug 7 2012: There are two things that are irrational about it:
    1) There is no evidence that animals are conscious of their sense knowledge. There is no evidence animals ask questions and invent theories to explain what they observe. There is no evidence that animals evaluate the evidence and decide whether a theory is true. There is no evidence that animals have free will.

    2) That humans have free will is an observation. It is especially clear when we do something that is easy not to do, like sticking to a low-calorie diet. Humans ask, "What is free will?" "What is the relationship between myself and my body?" One theory is that free will is an illusion. There is very little evidence for this theory. It is irrational to judge a theory to be true when there is very little evidence supporting it. A more absurd theory is dualism. Another better theory is idealism. The theory judged to be true by rational people is that free will is a mystery.
    • thumb

      Gerald O'brian 50+

      • 0
      Aug 7 2012: " One theory is that free will is an illusion. There is very little evidence for this theory."

      "Evidence" is a misleading word, and indeed used most of the time to make an irrational point.
      And it's basic philosphy to know that knowledge is not derived from observations, which are illusions almost by definition. (" That humans have free will is an observation").

      We have every reason to believe that the mind and everything about it is caused by neural activity, which in turn obeys the simple laws of physics.
      • thumb

        David Roemer

        • +1
        Aug 7 2012: Evidence is things we observe or theories that are judged to be true. Fossils are evidence of evolution. Take, for example, knowing that this page is white and black. This means more than that light is entering your eye and a signal is going to your brain. It means an "awareness" of this. What is this "awareness"?

        Another example is our ability to create images of what we see. Does an image have mass? Does it have volume? Theory: Images are caused by neural activity. This theory isn't even intelligible. The question is not what caused images, but what images are.
        • thumb

          Stewart Gault 30+

          • +1
          Aug 7 2012: When you see something, as shown by a special MRI scan of the brain, the image you look at is actually created on the back of the brain where the cells associated with sight are found. Scientists have actually been able to guess what people were looking at merely from these scans. What's more is the astounding fact that when we imagine something a faint and more unrecognisable version of say a cat is produced at the back of the brain. And as a little extra there's even a computer which has been taught to search YouTube for videos it thinks the people were watching using this MRI and it got it right most of the time. I think you may need to brush up a little on your neurology.
          Another fact, by setting up a controlled experiment and montoring the rains functions when deciding to lift a glass of water or not, scientists made the startling discovery that the decision is made in the brain seconds prior to the conscious self being aware of their choice.

    • Barry Palmer 50+

      • 0
      Aug 7 2012: I have 'observed' computers, playing games, exercise free will.
      • thumb

        David Roemer

        • 0
        Aug 7 2012: Free will refers to the observation that I can move my hand anyway I want. But if I lose my hand in an accident, I still continue to exist. My hand is something that I have. That is why humans are responsible for their actions. Computers and animals are not responsible for what they do. Animals are their natures, humans deposit themselves on their natures.

        • Barry Palmer 50+

          • +2
          Aug 8 2012: I hope you realize that your reply is exactly the opposite of scientific.

Showing single comment thread. View the full conversation.