Re: AI and cognitive psychology rant (getting more and more OT - tell me if I should shut up)

From: John J. Lee (jjl_at_pobox.com)
Date: 10/28/03 

Date: 28 Oct 2003 20:52:44 +0000

mis6@pitt.edu (Michele Simionato) writes:

> Stephen Horne <steve@ninereeds.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message news:
[...]
> In the last couple of centuries we have
> lost our faith in God (fortunately/unfortunately) so now there is
[...]

Again, I think the statistics are against you, Michele! Most people
on the planet believe in a God. Most Americans believe in a God.
Dunno for sure about Europeans, but I'd be surprised if it were
otherwise.

> My point is that this is an INTERPRETATION: depending on your religious
> belief you may find the realistic interpretation more or less appealing
> (Einstein was against it).
>
> This is not a point of Physics: both interpretation say that when we
> measure we will get 50% of dead cats, and actually we get that. This
> is Physics; the rest is speculation. You may adhere to the realist

That way of thinking (instrumentalism) is seductive, but wrong. I
refer you to Deutsch's book again (getting repetetive, I know).

> interpretation, but in this case you must loose the property of
> locality, and most people are so unhappy with this, that they
[...]

Not in the MWI (I'm extremely hazy on this point now, though :-( if I
ever did really understand it).

> What it is really interesting it to understand how measurement works,
> how to pass from microscopic to macroscopic, how to give a better
> description of what happens behind the wave function collapse.
> This is an *hard* job, but there is an active line of research on
[...]

It's rather easier if you accept the MWI, of course.

John

Relevant Pages

  • God --> Retroactive Teleogical Causation
    ... book The Physics of Immortality, which is available ... the universe is spatially closed (has finite spatial size and has ... should be identified with God. ... My theology is defended by Professor Wolfhart Pannenberg, ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: God=G_uv Proof of Intelligent Design
    ... Sam Ende says Intelligent Design ... > does not exist and is therefore not a proof that God exists. ... There exists an absolute physical reality. ... > Classical Physics holds that the human brain and sensory system ...
    (sci.physics.relativity)
  • Re: RANDOM: a word to risk eternal damnation by
    ... Physics, electrons jump around randomly with no natural explanation. ... proof that naturalism is fundamentally flawed. ... A properly shuffled and dealt deck of cards. ... It may be that God is causing the radioactive decay. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • RANDOM: a word to risk eternal damnation by
    ... Physics, electrons jump around randomly with no natural explanation. ... proof that naturalism is fundamentally flawed. ... A properly shuffled and dealt deck of cards. ... It may be that God is causing the radioactive decay. ...
    (talk.origins)
  • Re: The logic of atheism
    ... physics or chemistry, ... Would the laws of physics, chemistry, etc still exist ... directly interact with the universe but that your god /is/ ... Theist: "Hmm...what's a gleeg?" ...
    (talk.atheism)