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I voted for physicalism, but I don't really like this framing. I wouldn't say that, say, the Y combinator is a physical object. But I do think it's possible t
by endtime 16y ago
I voted for physicalism, but I don't really like this framing. I wouldn't say that, say, the Y combinator is a physical object. But I do think it's possible to implement it in hardware (or in software running on hardware). Likewise, our minds are implemented in hardware, but to say they are hardware feels slightly awkward.
Of course, I don't mean to justify dualism, which is kind of a mysterious answer to a mysterious question [1].
1: http://lesswrong.com/lw/iu/mysterious_answers_to_mysterious_questions/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/iu/mysterious_answers_to_mysterious_...
- parfe 16y agoI understand your reasoning, but I don't think you took it far enough. If something can be implemented in hardware, than it is hardware. If your mind could exist as a machine than I could print out schematics with every switch/gate/electron position set so your mind could be rebuilt elsewhere. YCombinator is physical because a mapping of the ram, physical storage, and CPU state would be enough to reproduce this site. Nothing about this website exists beyond our understanding of physics.
- Mz 16y agoNothing about this website exists beyond our understanding of physics. Reputation, membership, sense of community -- none of that could be automatically replicated by replicating the "site" and all of those things play a big role in making it what it is, giving it the value it has, causing it to function the way it does. I believe in reincarnation, so I believe our minds are separate from our bodies and go on after our bodies cease to function. I mean, what is "life" anyway? What causes a physical construct to be a living, breathing entity one second and dead the next? Life. Magic. Pretty much the same, I think.
- barkmadley 16y agoI think the original mention of the Y Combinator was in reference to "The Y Combinator" [1] which is implementable in hardware. A community website cannot be implemented in hardware because it is not implemented in isolation of the people who use it. *1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_point_combinator#Y_combinator http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fixed_point_combinator#Y_combin...
- Mz 16y agoAh, I see. Thanks.
- endtime 16y agoI can implement 2 in hardware by holding up 2 fingers. That doesn't make 2 a physical object.
- endtime 16y ago>If your mind could exist as a machine than I could print out schematics with every switch/gate/electron position set so your mind could be rebuilt elsewhere. Yep, I think this is the case.