So… it turns out some people actually do believe that there are fundamentally mental quantities not reducible to physics, and that these quantities explain the behaviour of living things. I confess I’m a bit surprised. I had the impression that everyone these days agreed that physics actually does describe the motion of all the atoms, including those in living brains. But no, believers in the ghost in the machine walk among us, and claim that the motions of living things cannot be predicted even in principle using physics. Something to bear in mind when discussing simulations; obviously such a man will never be convinced that the upload is the person no matter how close the simulation, even unto individual atoms.
But no, what surprised me was that people would seriously assert that “physics does not apply”, and then turn around and say “no law of physics is broken”.
What’s so surprising about extrapolating “different laws in different jurisdictions” to “different laws in different magisteria”? Consider the mental model where physics is not “fundamental”. Then it follows that “physics does not apply” (to a different magisterium) is logically distinct from “laws of physics are broken” (in the same magisterium).
So… it turns out some people actually do believe that there are fundamentally mental quantities not reducible to physics, and that these quantities explain the behaviour of living things. I confess I’m a bit surprised. I had the impression that everyone these days agreed that physics actually does describe the motion of all the atoms, including those in living brains. But no, believers in the ghost in the machine walk among us, and claim that the motions of living things cannot be predicted even in principle using physics. Something to bear in mind when discussing simulations; obviously such a man will never be convinced that the upload is the person no matter how close the simulation, even unto individual atoms.
I’m mystified that you thought everyone in the world is a materialist-reductionist. What on earth would make you believe that?
The typical mind fallacy, obviously!
But no, what surprised me was that people would seriously assert that “physics does not apply”, and then turn around and say “no law of physics is broken”.
What’s so surprising about extrapolating “different laws in different jurisdictions” to “different laws in different magisteria”? Consider the mental model where physics is not “fundamental”. Then it follows that “physics does not apply” (to a different magisterium) is logically distinct from “laws of physics are broken” (in the same magisterium).