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Materialism doesn't imply that consciousness is an illusion. It only states that the world is made of one substance. There is no second substance that creates m

Materialism doesn't imply that consciousness is an illusion. It only states that the world is made of one substance. There is no second substance that creates mind, spirit, soul, etc. Subjective personal experience is a side effect of an long running information process located inside a meat computer. Why is occurs and what is "really is" are scientific questions that are incompatible with materialism. Presupposing a second substance is magical thinking.

ca98am79 11y ago
Magical thinking is believing a ball of meat can create something as profound as consciousness. You don't need a "second substance" to think this way - consciousness could be the fundamental "substance" of the universe
- vectorpush 11y ago
  >Magical thinking is believing a ball of meat can create something as profound as consciousness. Reducing the complexities of the brain to "a ball of meat" is absurd. That's like saying it's magical thinking to suggest that a fragment of silicon can predict the weather. Further, there isn't any reason to believe that consciousness is any more profound or fundamentally distinct from any other physical phenomenon in the universe, especially because consciousness is a prerequisite to the consideration of its own nature; such reasoning is akin to thinking that the universe must have been carefully designed because it's so perfectly tuned to the temperament of complex life, when there's literally no other possibility if life actually exists to wonder about why it's here.
  - ca98am79 11y ago
    I was responding to the "meat computer" comment. But if you don't believe consciousness is more profound than other things, I honestly think you are fooling yourself, and I think it is a mistake because it devalues it
    - vectorpush 11y ago
      > if you don't believe consciousness is more profound than other things, I honestly think you are fooling yourself, and also limiting and reducing your own value Your reasoning just seems like an appeal to emotion. You might feel like consciousness is profound (a vague description without a clear meaning), but you haven't offered any reasoning as to why this is the case.
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]

ca98am79 11y ago

Magical thinking is believing a ball of meat can create something as profound as consciousness. You don't need a "second substance" to think this way - consciousness could be the fundamental "substance" of the universe

vectorpush 11y ago
>Magical thinking is believing a ball of meat can create something as profound as consciousness. Reducing the complexities of the brain to "a ball of meat" is absurd. That's like saying it's magical thinking to suggest that a fragment of silicon can predict the weather. Further, there isn't any reason to believe that consciousness is any more profound or fundamentally distinct from any other physical phenomenon in the universe, especially because consciousness is a prerequisite to the consideration of its own nature; such reasoning is akin to thinking that the universe must have been carefully designed because it's so perfectly tuned to the temperament of complex life, when there's literally no other possibility if life actually exists to wonder about why it's here.
- ca98am79 11y ago
  I was responding to the "meat computer" comment. But if you don't believe consciousness is more profound than other things, I honestly think you are fooling yourself, and I think it is a mistake because it devalues it
  - vectorpush 11y ago
    > if you don't believe consciousness is more profound than other things, I honestly think you are fooling yourself, and also limiting and reducing your own value Your reasoning just seems like an appeal to emotion. You might feel like consciousness is profound (a vague description without a clear meaning), but you haven't offered any reasoning as to why this is the case.
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]