Physicalism, like all metaphysical claims, is an unprovable assumption. That’s okay, science still works anyway. We don’t have to understand how the world ultimately is to develop accurate predictions of what we experience.
I think you’re noticing something real going on where science killed religion and destroyed a lot of valuable social technology in the process. This is tricky to untangle, because religion had gotten busy making metaphysical claims, science proved they were wrong, but then science swooped in to offer alternative metaphysical claims (also wrong) instead of avoiding the matter because people demanded to know how things really are and were discontent with simply having a model that accurately predicts.
But taking the it out on physicalism in a way that drags the good parts of science through the mud is short sighted and likely to drive off a lot of folks (and I think why you’re getting downvotes: you argue for too much in this post).
Thank you. You made me realize that I am blaming scientists here in a way. And as my ultimate goal is to create a better reality for everyone, blaming seems like a poor way of achieving that. I will try to remind myself that dividing and polarizing is not helpful to the cause. :) 🙏
Glad my comment was helpful. I’ve certainly been guilty of the same thing, though I was blaming rationalists for being bad at winning rather than scientists. I realized I was doing it because that’s a communication strategy that works on me: point out how I’m being foolish, convince me I’m being a fool, and then I’ll be motivated to be less foolish. Turns out this doesn’t work most of the time because its success depends on the convincing, and because the thing being said is adversarial you get approximately one chance to convince. Only do it if you are sure you can one-shot your reader.
Well I think now you’re conflating two things—pointing out someone made a mistake and telling someone they’re being foolish. I have learned from my last relationship it is crucial to separate the two. I would be extremely careful to label someone foolish as that can be taken as an attack ad hominem. Pointing out that someone had made a mistake (like turning physicalism into a scientific dogma) is admittedly a lesser misstep but I think it still strikes a note in many.
I’m just a bit disappointed that my last two posts have gotten so many downvotes but not a single person had presented arguments that my argumentation is incorrect. Fingers crossed I’m the 1% of contrarians that happens to be right? haha :D
Physicalism, like all metaphysical claims, is an unprovable assumption. That’s okay, science still works anyway. We don’t have to understand how the world ultimately is to develop accurate predictions of what we experience.
I think you’re noticing something real going on where science killed religion and destroyed a lot of valuable social technology in the process. This is tricky to untangle, because religion had gotten busy making metaphysical claims, science proved they were wrong, but then science swooped in to offer alternative metaphysical claims (also wrong) instead of avoiding the matter because people demanded to know how things really are and were discontent with simply having a model that accurately predicts.
But taking the it out on physicalism in a way that drags the good parts of science through the mud is short sighted and likely to drive off a lot of folks (and I think why you’re getting downvotes: you argue for too much in this post).
Thank you. You made me realize that I am blaming scientists here in a way. And as my ultimate goal is to create a better reality for everyone, blaming seems like a poor way of achieving that. I will try to remind myself that dividing and polarizing is not helpful to the cause. :) 🙏
Glad my comment was helpful. I’ve certainly been guilty of the same thing, though I was blaming rationalists for being bad at winning rather than scientists. I realized I was doing it because that’s a communication strategy that works on me: point out how I’m being foolish, convince me I’m being a fool, and then I’ll be motivated to be less foolish. Turns out this doesn’t work most of the time because its success depends on the convincing, and because the thing being said is adversarial you get approximately one chance to convince. Only do it if you are sure you can one-shot your reader.
Well I think now you’re conflating two things—pointing out someone made a mistake and telling someone they’re being foolish. I have learned from my last relationship it is crucial to separate the two. I would be extremely careful to label someone foolish as that can be taken as an attack ad hominem. Pointing out that someone had made a mistake (like turning physicalism into a scientific dogma) is admittedly a lesser misstep but I think it still strikes a note in many.
I’m just a bit disappointed that my last two posts have gotten so many downvotes but not a single person had presented arguments that my argumentation is incorrect. Fingers crossed I’m the 1% of contrarians that happens to be right? haha :D