I, for one, believe you can do much better than you have shown so far.
It seems you are often speaking “tongue in cheek”, without thinking it through critically. We all have wonderful imaginations, the trick is to keep them reigned in to fundamentally agree with known science. Then you will find many people interested in what you have to say.
An occasional reference to existing science helps in illustrating a specific point. It helps in understaning “where you’re coming from”.
despite taking insults without retaliation.When you are being insulted, let me know.
I’m suggesting your posts are not in the spirit of CFI. Inquiry needs a basis, not the free spirited, unfounded, speculation you do.
Write4U: I, for one, believe you can do much better than you have shown so far.Likewise, I feel the same way about you also but I STFU. Like you, Trump doesn't and keeps telling everybody that Obama could do much better. It's obnoxious thing to do and I understand why people hate him.
Lausten: I’m suggesting your posts are not in the spirit of CFI.On the contrary, I am inspired by the spirit of the CFI as expressed in is website: CFI’s vision is a world in which evidence, science, and compassion—rather than superstition, pseudoscience, or prejudice—guide public policy.
I look forward to a cooperative debate with you on what that CFI vision ought to be.
Like you, Trump doesn’tA good example of one of your thinly veiled, non-nonsensical, back handed insults in response to a well reasoned bit of feedback.
I look forward to a cooperative debate with you on what that CFI vision ought to be.The vision is fine, it's your interpretation of it that is the problem. I don't know if you just misunderstand it or are deliberately going against it.
Sree said: Can you clarify the distinction between “life” and “consciousness”?Do you ever consult a dictionary or wikipedia? They contains words (definitions) we invented to describe things. Ever heard the word "Biology"?
Life
Life is a characteristic that distinguishes physical entities that have biological processes, such as signaling and self-sustaining processes, from those that do not, either because such functions have ceased (they have died), or because they never had such functions and are classified as inanimate. Various forms of life exist, such as plants, animals, fungi, protists, archaea, and bacteria.The criteria can at times be ambiguous and may or may not define viruses, viroids, or potential synthetic life as “living”. Biology is the science concerned with the study of life.
Consciousness
1. the state of being able to use your senses and mental powers to understand what is happeningI can't remember any more—I must have lost consciousness.
- the state of being aware of something
SYNONYM: awareness
All things biological are considered “alive” as distinct from “abiological” are non-living things, such as minerals.
Abiogenesis is the emergence of living things from non-living constituents.
Abiogenesis, or informally the origin of life,[3][4][5][a] is the natural process by which life has arisen from non-living matter, such as simple organic compounds.[6][4][7][8] While the details of this process are still unknown, the prevailing scientific hypothesis is that the transition from non-living to living entities was not a single event, but an evolutionary process of increasing complexity that involved molecular self-replication, self-assembly, autocatalysis, and the emergence of cell membranes.[9][10][11] Although the occurrence of abiogenesis is uncontroversial among scientists, its possible mechanisms are poorly understood. There are several principles and hypotheses for how abiogenesis could have occurredhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abiogenesis
And you should have watched that lecture by Robert Hazen a little longer. But apparently you seek instant gratification on the processes that have taken billions of years of natural chemistry and evolutionary processes.
Write4U: Do you ever consult a dictionary or wikipedia? They contains words (definitions) we invented to describe things. Ever heard the word “Biology”?Human knowledge is ever-growing. We break new frontiers all the time. When something new is discovered, we change our point of view, reshape our concepts or even create new ones. If you want to stay within accepted norms, that's fine. I am looking for a conversation with someone who is willing to step into the unknown.
That’s what I’m taking about, right there. Words have meanings. You aren’t exploring new frontiers.
Lausten: Words have meanings. You aren’t exploring new frontiers.Words are linguistic symbols to denote known things. Knowledge is ever-growing as new things are discovered. Until new words are coined, old words have to be used to point to new things. No?
Sree said : Until new words are coined, old words have to be used to point to new things. No?Seems to me that for every new discovery a new word is invented to symbolically define the object. Think of all the new terms in computer science. IMO, there is a tendency to invent more and more words with very specific meanings.
If you check the dictionary, you’ll find that the oldest words have the widest symbolic applications. Very old words such as “home” and “food” have multiple applications, such as “home-base” in baseball, “food for thought” in education, conveying a more general fundamental idea which is applicable in many contexts rather than only being used in a very specific context…
Modern words such as “interface” have limited application, as do many words in modern science which symbolize very specific ideas and subtle differences.
53 Modern Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
The Oxford Dictionary Online is a warehouse of over 100,000 words. Despite this large arsenal, we continue to coin, clip, and blend new words into existence, and the Oxford folks pump some of these new words into their dictionaries. Here are some more recent additions with their official definitions.https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/31363/35-modern-words-recently-added-dictionary
Widdershins said : when I die, that I just won’t exist any moreOh, but you will, you just won't know about it, you'll be dead. You will exist in the memories of those who knew you and from now on CFI which has recorded your thoughts, which have now become part of the wireless internet. How's that for a heaven? You just won't be around to enjoy the fame.
IMO, humanity is working hard on creating artificial souls that can live on electronically till the end of time. It’s just that all we can do is read the remaining souls of people who have passed from a brain into the internet.
Nothing but trolling for two pages Sree. Google the term.
Lausten: A good example of one of your thinly veiled, non-nonsensical, back handed insults in response to a well reasoned bit of feedback.You would call the quote below a well reasoned bit of feedback?
Write4U: I, for one, believe you can do much better than you have shown so far.It sounded like something a father would say to his kid after taking a look at his lousy grades at school.
Widdershins said : when I die, that I just won’t exist any moreWrite4U: Oh, but you will, you just won’t know about it, you’ll be dead. You will exist in the memories of those who knew you and from now on CFI which has recorded your thoughts, which have now become part of the wireless internet. How’s that for a heaven? You just won’t be around to enjoy the fame.
Critical inquiry. Let’s examine appropriateness of word use and soundness of logic in the above exchange.
Widdershin is the main character as well as the very story of Widdershin. When Widdershin dies, his story, including all supporting characters, vanishes and doesn’t exist anymore. Sounds right. Now, comes the funky part.
“You’ll be dead,” said Write4U. Is it possible for Widdershin, the person, to be dead? Widdershin, or any person, for that matter, can either exist or cease to exist. The untidy thinking expressed in the careless use of words - “You (i.e. Widdershin) will be dead” – conjures the idea of a dead person. This, logical fallacy, I contend, is the cause of the belief in life after death. And even if this belief is consciously rejected by the atheist, the bug of crooked thinking, implanted in his thought process, keeps churning out secular superstitions that, in essence, are not different from religious ones. “You will exist in the memories of those who knew you…” i.e. the mind. Does the Heaven of Christians exist in any other place?
This, logical fallacyLogical fallacies have names and can be logically described. Please do so. Or, quit trolling.
Maybe it’s the definition of dead you are having trouble with Sree. This should help.
something a father would say to his kidYeah. So?
I don’t think it is considered good manners in polite circles. I do understand that this is an internet forum which is accessible to all and sundry like Central Station in New York City or Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam.
I’m not taking lessons from you on politeness Sree.