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The problem is this is self evident and doesn't explain anything. Saying that consciousness is the only thing that exists is like saying God created the univers

by ffwd 10y ago

The problem is this is self evident and doesn't explain anything. Saying that consciousness is the only thing that exists is like saying God created the universe. Well then who created God? We have to try to explain what all this is through our conscious experience, and if it happens to be that it's impossible for us to do so, we'll have to re-evaluate our options then. I personally don't believe this to be the case - I think everything exists and consciousness is only one way too perceive that everything, but that's another debate I guess

RivieraKid 10y ago
> The problem is this is self evident and doesn't explain anything. Definitely not self evident, vast majority of people don't see things this way. It doesn't have to explain anything, it's something akin to observation. Just a description of how things are, not an explanation. > Saying that consciousness is the only thing that exists is like saying God created the universe. I don't get this, how is this remotely similar, what does God have to do with this? The way I see it, history is just mental concept / idea. We take our physical model and similate the current state of the universe backwards - and call this history. > I personally don't believe this to be the case - I think everything exists and consciousness is only one way too perceive that everything, but that's another debate I guess Well, you only have perceptions (what you see, hear, feel, ...). It's the only thing you can be sure of. The "real world" is in its essence a thought, idea, mental model. Think about what does the statement "Eiffel tower exists" mean. It's a probabilistic statement about future perceptions - if you go to Paris, you will probably see it.
- ffwd 10y ago
  > Just a description of how things are, not an explanation. In my opinion it definitely is an explanation. There's a difference between a world where only consciousness exists, to one where the real world exists and consciousness is one aspect of it. > I don't get this, how is this remotely similar, what does God have to do with this? Saying only consciousness exists doesn't explain what consciousness is. Same as saying that God created the universe doesn't explain what created God. If it happens to be that the physical world exists and consciousness is a phenomena of the brain, as we see it today through our perceptions, then consciousness is NOT the only thing that exists, and we can start to probe what the role of it is in the bigger picture. > It's the only thing you can be sure of. The "real world" is in its essence a thought, idea, mental model. But what if it isn't? What if the real world is tightly coupled to the physics that we perceive, and that our concept of it in consciousness actually comes from physics and not from our mental model. There is definitely a chance that all our perceptions are false / an illusion of some kind, but since as you say, they are all we have, we have to presume some level of reality outside our mind and then go from there, and then if some day it's proven to be totally false we can evaluate our options then.

by ffwd 10y ago

RivieraKid 10y ago

> The problem is this is self evident and doesn't explain anything. Definitely not self evident, vast majority of people don't see things this way. It doesn't have to explain anything, it's something akin to observation. Just a description of how things are, not an explanation. > Saying that consciousness is the only thing that exists is like saying God created the universe. I don't get this, how is this remotely similar, what does God have to do with this? The way I see it, history is just mental concept / idea. We take our physical model and similate the current state of the universe backwards - and call this history. > I personally don't believe this to be the case - I think everything exists and consciousness is only one way too perceive that everything, but that's another debate I guess Well, you only have perceptions (what you see, hear, feel, ...). It's the only thing you can be sure of. The "real world" is in its essence a thought, idea, mental model. Think about what does the statement "Eiffel tower exists" mean. It's a probabilistic statement about future perceptions - if you go to Paris, you will probably see it.

ffwd 10y ago
> Just a description of how things are, not an explanation. In my opinion it definitely is an explanation. There's a difference between a world where only consciousness exists, to one where the real world exists and consciousness is one aspect of it. > I don't get this, how is this remotely similar, what does God have to do with this? Saying only consciousness exists doesn't explain what consciousness is. Same as saying that God created the universe doesn't explain what created God. If it happens to be that the physical world exists and consciousness is a phenomena of the brain, as we see it today through our perceptions, then consciousness is NOT the only thing that exists, and we can start to probe what the role of it is in the bigger picture. > It's the only thing you can be sure of. The "real world" is in its essence a thought, idea, mental model. But what if it isn't? What if the real world is tightly coupled to the physics that we perceive, and that our concept of it in consciousness actually comes from physics and not from our mental model. There is definitely a chance that all our perceptions are false / an illusion of some kind, but since as you say, they are all we have, we have to presume some level of reality outside our mind and then go from there, and then if some day it's proven to be totally false we can evaluate our options then.