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  Nick Willmott commented on criticism #513.

Yes re OR gate.

Re light switches: as I understand it, they either inhibit or permit the flow of electricity. But there’s no information there, let alone processing of information. So the example is flawed, I think.

#513 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I'll have to tap out sorry. Possibly talking on different trajectories.

If an OR gate is conceived as a computer then the initial post about the brain being conceived as a computer is a banality / an uninteresting syllogism.

9 months ago · ‘Is the Brain a Computer?’
  Dennis Hackethal revised idea #527.
Well non-existence, by definition, can’t exist, right? Rules itself out.
9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #544.

Inexplicit criticism is good, maybe you can make it explicit someday and we can continue.

#544 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I’d like that.

And yes inexplicit criticism is good! And not taking infinite criticism is bad. Someone should make a list of understandable pitfalls one ought to avoid when trying to apply critical rationalism.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #543.

Yes, it should. I am left with no counterargument but a mild sense of dissatisfaction.

(Logan Chipkin)

#543 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Inexplicit criticism is good, maybe you can make it explicit someday and we can continue.

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on criticism #542.

To the question of existence.

#542 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Yes, it should. I am left with no counterargument but a mild sense of dissatisfaction.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #541.

You mean to the question of existence, or in general? Cuz in general I’d think of it as a criticism.

(Logan Chipkin)

#541 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

To the question of existence.

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #540.

Since you agree (#539) that logic is part of philosophy, the law of the excluded middle should satisfy you as a philosophical answer, no?

#540 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

You mean to the question of existence, or in general? Cuz in general I’d think of it as a criticism.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #537.

Good point - philosophy, then.

(Logan Chipkin)

#537 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Since you agree (#539) that logic is part of philosophy, the law of the excluded middle should satisfy you as a philosophical answer, no?

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #538.

Is logic part of philosophy?

#538 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Yes (Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on criticism #537.

Good point - philosophy, then.

(Logan Chipkin)

#537 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Is logic part of philosophy?

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #536.

Doesn’t physics presume the existence of physical objects and laws? Ie it presumes the existence of something physical. So it presumes existence itself. In which case physics can’t be the arbiter here.

#536 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Good point - philosophy, then.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #535.

I would think that the solution comes either from physics or from philosophy that comes out of some physical theory.

(Logan Chipkin)

#535 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Doesn’t physics presume the existence of physical objects and laws? Ie it presumes the existence of something physical. So it presumes existence itself. In which case physics can’t be the arbiter here.

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #532.

If non-existence is to mean anything at all, I think that’s it, yes.

#532 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I would think that the solution comes either from physics or from philosophy that comes out of some physical theory.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #533.

I would be amazed if that is why there is something rather than nothing.

(Logan Chipkin)

#533 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

That’s not a counterargument - so maybe that’s it, after all.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #532.

If non-existence is to mean anything at all, I think that’s it, yes.

#532 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I would be amazed if that is why there is something rather than nothing.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #530.

Is non-existence really existing if there’s nothing at all?

(Logan Chipkin)

#530 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

If non-existence is to mean anything at all, I think that’s it, yes.

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on criticism #530.

Is non-existence really existing if there’s nothing at all?

(Logan Chipkin)

#530 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Btw I do sometimes wonder if the problem of explaining why there’s something rather than nothing is connected to the fact that there’s a difference between Platonic reality and physical reality.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #527.

Well non-existence, by definition, can’t exist, right?

#527 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Is non-existence really existing if there’s nothing at all?

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #528.

I think that’s just a word game.

(Logan Chipkin)

#528 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I don’t mean it as a word game, I mean it literally.

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #527.

Well non-existence, by definition, can’t exist, right?

#527 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I think that’s just a word game.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #525.

I don’t see why nonexistence cannot also be a logical possibility.

If nonexistence is logically possible, and existence is logically possible, we need to explain why the latter has been physicalized in the first place.

(Logan Chipkin)

#525 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Well non-existence, by definition, can’t exist, right?

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal revised idea #522. The revision addresses idea #523.
I don’t see why nonexistence cannot also be a logical possibility.

If nonexistence is logically possible, and existence is logically possible, we need to explain why the formerlatter has been physicalized in the first place.

(Logan Chipkin)
9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal commented on criticism #523.

The latter?

#523 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

Sorry yes

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #522.

I don’t see why nonexistence cannot also be a logical possibility.

If nonexistence is logically possible, and existence is logically possible, we need to explain why the former has been physicalized in the first place.

(Logan Chipkin)

#522 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

The latter?

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’
  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #521.

What do you think of: it’s the law of the excluded middle that causes the universe to exist. Nothing can’t exist, so the only alternative that’s left is for something to exist.

#521 · Dennis HackethalOP, 9 months ago

I don’t see why nonexistence cannot also be a logical possibility.

If nonexistence is logically possible, and existence is logically possible, we need to explain why the former has been physicalized in the first place.

(Logan Chipkin)

9 months ago · ‘Why Is There Something Rather Than Nothing?’