Originally posted by SuzianneSomeone once said, science tells you how the hammer hit your finger. Religion tells you that you deserve it. Thought it was funny at the time.
Yes, science does a superb job of answering how.
Just as religion answers the why. Pretending there is no why doesn't answer that question.
Originally posted by SuzianneI wonder if the question "why", is not a mental process developed through evolutionary processes to survive .Perhaps the universe does not have a why, and simply is.
Of course there is a why. There has been ever since there were humans.
How is easy. The evidence is right in front of us.
It's the why that is hard.
Originally posted by OdBodAnd why do you think you can trust your thought processes if your brain was not specifically designed to think trustworthy thoughts?
I wonder if the question "why", is not a mental process developed through evolutionary processes to survive .Perhaps the universe does not have a why, and simply is.
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkI don't trust my thought processes 100%,I recognise that I am limited.But surely this is a strength, as it enables you to see things from a different perspective.
And why do you think you can trust your thought processes if your brain was not specifically designed to think trustworthy thoughts?
Originally posted by OdBodNothing natural just is, at least what anyone has seen. To believe the universe just is makes a leap of faith not tested by direct obsevation.
I wonder if the question "why", is not a mental process developed through evolutionary processes to survive .Perhaps the universe does not have a why, and simply is.
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkOf course the brain evolved for thinking,this being a requirement of survival in a competitive environment. I can only function with the intellectual tools available to me,but do so recognizing that those tools are fallible.
Assuming your brain was not created for the purspose of thinking, why do you trust your thoughts at all?
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Originally posted by OdBodIf matter and energy are all that exist in the universe, then how do you rationally defend the idea that you have free will and can properly use logic?
Of course the brain evolved for thinking,this being a requirement of survival in a competitive environment. I can only function with the intellectual tools available to me,but do so recognizing that those tools are fallible.
The point is this--how can you as a strict materialist really trust your own mind? I mean, if everything in the universe is matter and energy, then that means your physical brain is bound by the laws of physics. Think about this. In a purely materialistic worldview where the human brain is nothing more than the summation of chemicals and brain wiring, how do you justify having both free will and rationality?
How does one chemical state of the brain that is altered by the electrical firing of neurons, which leads to another chemical state in your brain, produce free thought and logical inference?
If your brain is hardwired and constrained by the physical laws, then it cannot act outside of those laws or outside the limits of the hardwiring. It is, in essence, caged in by the limits of physical properties and cannot break free of them.
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkI'll get back to you on that, but for the time being it's xmas and much drinking is to done!!!!!!! Happy christmas.
If matter and energy are all that exist in the universe, then how do you rationally defend the idea that you have free will and can properly use l?
The point is this--how can you as a strict materialist really trust your own mind? I mean, if everything in the universe is matter and energy, then that means your physical brain is bound by the laws of ...[text shortened]... It is, in essence, caged in by the limits of physical properties and cannot break free of them.
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkWe really don't know the composition of the universe.Free will may be an illusion.Logic itself cannot be totaly relied on ,consider quantum theory for example.I do not seek to justify freewill and rationality,but do try to understand them recognising my own limitations.You suggest that we are caged in by the limits of physical properties using a materialistic view .This may not be the case given the emergance of new qualites arising from increasing complexity.
If matter and energy are all that exist in the universe, then how do you rationally defend the idea that you have free will and can properly use logic?
The point is this--how can you as a strict materialist really trust your own mind? I mean, if everything in the universe is matter and energy, then that means your physical brain is bound by the laws ...[text shortened]... It is, in essence, caged in by the limits of physical properties and cannot break free of them.
Originally posted by moonbusTrue that.
What the theory of evolution does not tell us is how life gets started. It remains to be seen whether life does in fact get started wherever conditions favour it, or whether something else is required beyond chemicals and energy. If the former, then the monotheistic religions are going to have trouble integrating it into their ideology, IMO.
How long it w ...[text shortened]... hing guarantees that it would survive catastrophes similar to Earth's previous mass extinctions.
The monotheistic religions are faced with problems from schoolchildren daily,lol.
Maybe we need to "seed" a planet to form life. Well not "we" but other intelligent life. Maybe it's like a calculated risk on Goldilocks-like planets.
Originally posted by OdBodI don't know about why, but people often try to identify with the Divine in someway and the mistake they make is to ask " who?". Who is god jesus,etc.
I wonder if the question "why", is not a mental process developed through evolutionary processes to survive .Perhaps the universe does not have a why, and simply is.
I think the question is "what". What are we?
Originally posted by FetchmyjunkI've broken free of them. I've looked down on my body chatting away to someone else...
If matter and energy are all that exist in the universe, then how do you rationally defend the idea that you have free will and can properly use logic?
The point is this--how can you as a strict materialist really trust your own mind? I mean, if everything in the universe is matter and energy, then that means your physical brain is bound by the laws ...[text shortened]... It is, in essence, caged in by the limits of physical properties and cannot break free of them.
I could see the top of my head even