Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Brain droppings

I have to point out that the idea of continuity of the self being tied to memory originated with a philosopher (John Locke), and was championed by a poet (William Wordsworth) long before it was taken up the by the Vienna School (Freud, et al.), and Philip K. Dick was speculating on who we are if we really are just a collection of memories some 60 years ago.

And we still talk of "mind" and "body" because of Plato.

So it's nice of science to catch up with the rest of us.  And as for this nugget:

Philosophical arguments are always subject to debate, but the scientific observations just are what they are.

Well, scientific observations established that neutrinos had no mass, until scientific observations established that the bulk of the mass of the universe is contained in neutrinos.

So, you know, whatever.....*

*I love it when scientists try to set themselves up as superior to philosophy.  It's like all the philosophical work of the 20th century never happened.

1 comment:

  1. "I love it when scientists try to set themselves up as superior to philosophy. It's like all the philosophical work of the 20th century never happened."


    Oh absolutely, all that philosophical work of the 20th century had a major impact on people's lives. I'm thinking, for example, of all the diseases philosophy cured. Not to mention the philosophers who used to come over to my house and set up my stereo systems in the 70s and 80s.

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