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All available evidence points to the materialistic viewpoint. You cannot trust your feelings or experiences. You cannot even fully trust science and logic. How

All available evidence points to the materialistic viewpoint. You cannot trust your feelings or experiences. You cannot even fully trust science and logic. However science and logic delivers more consistent results. You may feel like there's other "wavelengths" of reality when you do a psychedelic but everyone's experience is different. The only consistent experience most of humanity shares is the scientific and logical reality we experience when sober. So as far as we know science and logic is the more accurate and consistent barometer. This man has a claim, his article does not give adequate evidence for that claim. In fact this article shows an intense lack of basic understanding of the nature of logic and science and it's relationship with reality. If 1000 atheists did Ayahuasca will that change all their perspectives? Does a change in perspective or a the opinion of a brain compromised by an hallucinogen serve as accurate evidence? No. Don't be stupid. Not even photographic evidence or a video of a god serves as adequate evidence. If you have a clear perspective on the nature of logic, probability and science and it's relationship with reality... drugs will not change your viewpoint. These kind of experiences are only valid for people who have a lack of deep understanding of reality and the tools we use to understand it. Let's just put it logically and plainly. If drugs compromise your brain and it's ability to drive and it's ability to perceive things than how on earth does a claim about god by a person on drugs serve as an accurate account? You don't trust a man high on some drug to drive, you're going to trust his opinion on God? Don't be stupid. The man's description and judgement is compromised and I'm surprised and disappointed so many HN readers voted this up.

axguscbklp 5y ago
>All available evidence points to the materialistic viewpoint. The materialistic viewpoint has failed to explain consciousness in the sense of describing a mechanism by which material phenomena could give rise to subjective experience.
- neonological 5y ago
  Failure doesn't validate other forms of explanations. Materialism is an imperfect explanation but imperfection is not a metric for reliability. Evidence is the metric for reliability and so far as imperfect as materialism is... it has the best evidence. Moving to other explanations means moving to explanations with less or no evidence and therefore are at high risk of being false.
  - axguscbklp 5y ago
    Materialism does not have an imperfect explanation of consciousness - it has zero explanation of consciousness. Materialism does have a non-zero explanation of things other than consciousness, but there is no good reason to assume that this should mean its success at explaining some other things means that it has any possibility of ever explaining consciousness.
    - neonological 5y ago
      >Materialism does not have an imperfect explanation of consciousness - it has zero explanation of consciousness. First off zero explanation does not validate other explanations. Second off what you said is strictly false. Much of neurology research operates on physically manipulating the brain through material means including brain surgery, drugs and even removal of certain aspects of the brain. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain Subjects with Material damage to the brain where the connections between the two hemispheres of the brain are physically severed display behavior that is consistent with two consciousnesses existing in a single person. This is physical evidence that your consciousness is tied to physical and biological material. It further implies that because this consciousness is material based that consciousness can be recreated by simply simulating the material structure that creates it. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Brain_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Brain_Project The blue brain project is a research endeavor with the first step goal of emulating a full mouse brain and consciousness on super computers by using models of cellular neurons. This is real material based research on consciousness that is funded with a lot of money.

axguscbklp 5y ago

>All available evidence points to the materialistic viewpoint. The materialistic viewpoint has failed to explain consciousness in the sense of describing a mechanism by which material phenomena could give rise to subjective experience.

neonological 5y ago
Failure doesn't validate other forms of explanations. Materialism is an imperfect explanation but imperfection is not a metric for reliability. Evidence is the metric for reliability and so far as imperfect as materialism is... it has the best evidence. Moving to other explanations means moving to explanations with less or no evidence and therefore are at high risk of being false.
- axguscbklp 5y ago
  Materialism does not have an imperfect explanation of consciousness - it has zero explanation of consciousness. Materialism does have a non-zero explanation of things other than consciousness, but there is no good reason to assume that this should mean its success at explaining some other things means that it has any possibility of ever explaining consciousness.
  - neonological 5y ago
    >Materialism does not have an imperfect explanation of consciousness - it has zero explanation of consciousness. First off zero explanation does not validate other explanations. Second off what you said is strictly false. Much of neurology research operates on physically manipulating the brain through material means including brain surgery, drugs and even removal of certain aspects of the brain. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split-brain Subjects with Material damage to the brain where the connections between the two hemispheres of the brain are physically severed display behavior that is consistent with two consciousnesses existing in a single person. This is physical evidence that your consciousness is tied to physical and biological material. It further implies that because this consciousness is material based that consciousness can be recreated by simply simulating the material structure that creates it. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Brain_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Brain_Project The blue brain project is a research endeavor with the first step goal of emulating a full mouse brain and consciousness on super computers by using models of cellular neurons. This is real material based research on consciousness that is funded with a lot of money.