What, Why & How do we Know ?
No, he does not say that “Consciousness is an Illusion”. End of. In a sentence: Dennett’s position is that: Consciousness and conscious will are as real and evolved as anything else in the world. The powerful (useful, but misleading) ILLUSION is the Cartesian theatre / video screen with the homunculus viewer / user as things … Continue reading “Is Dennett an Illusionist?”
“Superstition brings bad luck” Ray Smullyan 5000BC There exists a secret society with branches throughout the world, and its plot is to spread the rumour that a universal plot exists. Synarchy – a new European order led by a government of wise men, above party lines – […] is a plot of international technocrats. It’s … Continue reading “Conspiracy Theories”
Recently I commented on Owen Barfield labouring his point about the mental illusion of seeing an intangible rainbow, when his real point was that “seeing” a tree was no less a mental trick of “representation”, as is even the additional mental picture we create from the other sensory perceptions available to us for the apparently … Continue reading “An Illusion is Nevertheless Real”
Completed Hofstadter and Dennett’s “The Mind’s I” on the way back to Perth, Oz. Although it peters out a bit, with Hofstadter’s “Conversation with Einstein’s Brain” there are still more gems in there. After Lem’s excellent “Non Serviam” mentioned previously, we still have Ray Smullyan’s “Is God a Taoist”, John Searle’s “Minds, Brains and Programs”, … Continue reading “Mind’s I – Round-up”