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The suggestion that there are other kinds of valid thinking besides scientific thinking is way off. No matter how obvious something feels, you can't know it's

The suggestion that there are other kinds of valid thinking besides scientific thinking is way off. No matter how obvious something feels, you can't know it's truth value. Humans can have auditory, visual and conceptual delusions that are completely convincing and completely opposite of what other humans experience. The only conclusion you can draw from this essay is it's actually how the author says he thinks he feels. This may be a good starting hypothesis for a more rigorous study, but it says very little about life in general.

kaybe 9y ago
For some definition of real, all these internal experiences are real. Not interpersonal, maybe, but they will have an effect on the person and on how they interact with the environment including other people. Accounts like this also tell you what's possible. It might and probably won't be true for everyone, but nobody is unique enough that it won't be encountered again. So even if it's just one author telling you about his internal world I'd say there is a little more to learn from this.
jansho 9y ago
> but it says very little about life in general. But you said it yourself, we can never know the absolute truth value. I say let go of what life truly means, and enjoy the process of iteratively improving your own perspective. Humans always seek closure though - that's religion for me (!)
hithereagain 9y ago
>The suggestion that there are other kinds of valid thinking besides scientific thinking is way off. That's a very religious attitude you have about the scientific method. ;-) Might we say that, based on our tests so far, the scientific method has produced reasonable results for explaining shared reality? (Defining truth is a different matter entirely.)
tnzn 9y ago
So you're saying your comment isn't valid thinking?
- akvadrako 9y ago
  My comment would fall under the hypothesis generation step of the scientific method, just like the article. It may or may not be proper thinking - without executing the remaining steps to test a theory, we can't know.

kaybe 9y ago

For some definition of real, all these internal experiences are real. Not interpersonal, maybe, but they will have an effect on the person and on how they interact with the environment including other people. Accounts like this also tell you what's possible. It might and probably won't be true for everyone, but nobody is unique enough that it won't be encountered again. So even if it's just one author telling you about his internal world I'd say there is a little more to learn from this.

jansho 9y ago

> but it says very little about life in general. But you said it yourself, we can never know the absolute truth value. I say let go of what life truly means, and enjoy the process of iteratively improving your own perspective. Humans always seek closure though - that's religion for me (!)

hithereagain 9y ago

>The suggestion that there are other kinds of valid thinking besides scientific thinking is way off. That's a very religious attitude you have about the scientific method. ;-) Might we say that, based on our tests so far, the scientific method has produced reasonable results for explaining shared reality? (Defining truth is a different matter entirely.)

tnzn 9y ago

So you're saying your comment isn't valid thinking?

akvadrako 9y ago
My comment would fall under the hypothesis generation step of the scientific method, just like the article. It may or may not be proper thinking - without executing the remaining steps to test a theory, we can't know.