Category: Empty Individualism
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The Interface Theory of Perception by Donald D. Hoffman
A goal of perception is to estimate true properties of the world. A goal of categorization is to classify its structure. Aeons of evolution have shaped our senses to this end. These three assumptions motivate much work on human perception. I here argue, on evolutionary grounds, that all three are false. Instead, our perceptions constitute…
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A comprehensive list of ways in which reality may be distorted by perception, by David Pearce
“If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, Infinite.” —William Blake 1. You don’t perceive the environment. There is no public world. Instead, your local environment partially selects your brain states, some of which are experienced as your external surroundings. Mind-independent reality is a speculative metaphysical inference, sadly a strong one, IMO. Contra William Blake (and…
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Physicalism Implies Experience Never Dies, by Vitrify her
The inner light of awareness never dies. At least that is the case if you take physicalism seriously. We would actually need to invoke a dualist mysterianism or the supernatural in order to defend the idea that we die. … You might have heard that everything we see and feel and hear is happening in…
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Is the Orthogonality Thesis Defensible if We Assume Both Valence Realism and Open Individualism?
“I suppose it’s contingent on whether or not digital zombies are capable of general intelligence, which is an open question. However, phenomenally bound subjective world simulations seem like an uncharacteristic extravagance on the part of evolution if non-sphexish p-zombie general intelligence is possible. Of course, it may be possible, but just not reachable through Darwinian…
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The metaphysics of the end of suffering
Things do not fall down, but are attracted to the center of planet Earth, this being a model that can be complicated including other celestial bodies. The difference is not important at the local level, but it is fundamental to understand it if our plan includes escaping from the planet. In the same way, knowing…
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Empty, Open and Closed Individualism
…it is common to access some memory of adolescence and to be ashamed of oneself, of what we did or even of what we thought at that moment. It seems as if someone else has done it. It can become humiliating or almost inconceivable that we would have been able to think or do such…