For days I was thinking about the next lecture. I knew it would be about how we see ourselves. Behind these thoughts was our observation that conspiracy theories and religions have a lot in common.
Add to this me watching a documentary of David Attenborough about the origins of life, that life started with one-cell organisms deep in the oceans and the result is that I woke up this morning.....thinking about this and that....
and then....I have to get out of bed and write this down, otherwise, I'll forget. And what I wanted to write down was for me the full understanding of a materialist worldview. I know, that sounds very presumptuous, but still. I will present it to you.
Study the diagram behind me for a moment and see for yourself if it makes sense to you in some way. You have to "read" the diagram from bottom to top. This is the way I see homo sapiens, science, and philosophy.
Let me explain the story this diagram tells. The basic idea is of course that we are just a part of a material world.
That is all there is. In this physical world is organic life, of which some organisms possess the ability to see themselves as individual.
Not only primates but also animals like elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror. They "know".... heeee! this is ME!
However, there happened to be just one single organism, that experiences this "this is ME" effect within a timescale. It became conscious of the past, present, and future.
This meant total self-consciousness. The ability to plan for the future, wonder about the past, and come to conclusions.
This was the only organism that was able to ask the question WHY? That's us: Homo Sapiens.
The result of answering this question was, based on the awareness of the physical existence, science, and clear and distinct knowledge of what really is.
Metaphysics was a nice method to create all kinds of stories and explanations as answers to the questions science answered with "We don't (yet) know".
In relation to all this Homo Sapiens had a kind of knowledge, other animals don't have. This is related to the knowledge of time.
Different from other animals homo sapiens is able to ask himself the question, in connexion with the awareness of pain and pleasure: what I did do to X yesterday, did I cause pain to him?
And homo sapiens just like any other living organism doesn't like to experience pain. This is the basics for ethics: the unique ability to imagine how the other may have felt. it is called empathy. And based on this we learned about good and evil.
But then you have philosophers! They of course screw up my whole narrative because some say....hold on...!
You start with a physical existence, let me call it the real world. But how do you know this real world exists just as you think to experience it?
The only thing you REALLY know is your sensory experiences, in other words, everything is only in your mind, like Immanuel Kant already concluded: we never can know "das Ding an sich" (The object as such).
The most extreme position in this matter is solipsism: the philosophy that there is only one real reality....my own mind.
Of course, this theoretical problem exists. We as living organisms only EXPERIENCE an outside reality.
We can even take it a step further. We do not only experience something we call an outside reality, we even are able to experience ourselves as experiencing ourselves! I think about Myself. Just imagine.....this "I" individuality must be someone else than myself. or......?
That is the reason I put it all inside a blue frame and called it the Meta-Mind paradox. To be honest, as a materialist philosopher I don't care.
To me, it is just a trick of the mind as it can play such tricks on our reality. I'd say...enjoy it and have fun with it ....
Thank you for your attention again.....
Main Sources:
MacMillan The Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2nd edition
TABLE OF CONTENT -----------------------------------------------------------------
1 - 100 Philosophers 9 May 2009 Start of
2 - 25+ Women Philosophers 10 May 2009 this blog
3 - 25 Adventures in Thinking 10 May 2009
4 - Modern Theories of Ethics 29 Oct 2009
5 - The Ideal State 24 Febr 2010 / 234
6 - The Mystery of the Brain 3 Sept 2010 / 266
7 - The Utopia of the Free Market 16 Febr 2012 / 383
8. - The Aftermath of Neo-liberalism 5 Sept 2012 / 413
9. - The Art Not to Be an Egoist 6 Nov 2012 / 426
10 - Non-Western Philosophy 29 May 2013 / 477
11 - Why Science is Right 2 Sept 2014 / 534
12 - A Philosopher looks at Atheism 1 Jan 2015 / 557
13 - EVIL, a philosophical investigation 17 Apr 2015 / 580
14 - Existentialism and Free Will 2 Sept 2015 / 586
15 - Spinoza 2 Sept 2016 / 615
16 - The Meaning of Life 13 Febr 2017 / 637
17 - In Search of my Self 6 Sept 2017 / 670
18 - The 20th Century Revisited 3 Apr 2018 / 706
19 - The Pessimist 11 Jan 2020 / 819
20 - The Optimist 9 Febr 2020 / 824
21 - Awakening from a Neoliberal Dream 8 Oct 2020 / 872
22 - A World Full of Patterns 1 Apr 2021 / 912
23 - The Concept of Freedom 8 Jan 2022 / 965
[13:28] herman Bergson smiles
[13:28] herman Bergson: wonder if this all made sense to you :-))
[13:28] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): i have to think this over...
[13:29] herman Bergson: This is really a summary of my basic philosophy
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): (gears crunching in my head still)
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i think i have some grasp
[13:30] herman Bergson: Hmmm...knocked you of your feet, it seems :-))
[13:30] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): indeed a bit tricky
[13:31] herman Bergson: Let's gothrough it...
[13:31] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ah
[13:31] herman Bergson: Our basic philosophy is materialism...there is nothing else bt matter....
[13:32] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hm
[13:32] herman Bergson: then you take the evolutionary approach....
[13:32] herman Bergson: matter changed into organisms that became self- conscious...that is...homo sapiens eventually
[13:33] herman Bergson: the most characteristic attitude of homo sapiens is that he asks WHY this Why that...he is curious and wants to understand
[13:33] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): somehow it is strange that the animals have not experienced this development, they have been in the world just as long as we have
[13:33] herman Bergson: by nature .which means...a perfect way to survive
[13:34] Gemma (gemma.cleanslate) is online.
[13:34] herman Bergson: lol...you remind me of Hershel Walker, Beertje.....
[13:34] herman Bergson: He said....hey....so man evolved from apes.....
[13:35] herman Bergson: then....why are there still apes?
[13:35] herman Bergson: That is a simple consequence of evolution
[13:36] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): we split off from the apes, but other species didn't make this development either
[13:36] herman Bergson: look at the picture on my left....
[13:36] herman Bergson: indeed Beertje....
[13:36] herman Bergson: We are inclined to ask...Why is that.....?
[13:37] herman Bergson: The answer is quite simple....WE DON"T KNOW
[13:37] herman Bergson: evolution is a kind of random process
[13:38] herman Bergson: Why is that so>.....simple..WE DON'T KNOW
[13:38] oola Neruda: survival of the fittest
[13:38] herman Bergson: to some extend indeed oola
[13:38] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): survival of the smartest I think
[13:38] herman Bergson: so much we have figured out
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): maybe
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:38] oola Neruda: same difference
[13:38] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well
[13:39] herman Bergson: funny thing is....
[13:39] herman Bergson: we may be the smartest...but we show to be also the dummest by destroying our own habitat ^_^
[13:39] oola Neruda: YES
[13:40] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): we humans can think in terms of solutions, animals find it much more difficult
[13:40] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): well there is the darwin awards prize for those killing them selves in the most stupid ways so sorting the idiots out
[13:40] herman Bergson: Indeed Beertje....
[13:40] theo Velde is offline.
[13:41] herman Bergson: You do not give us much hope Bejiita ^_^
[13:41] herman Bergson: Well...as prize winners perhaps :-))
[13:41] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): haha well i don't take selfies while standing on top of a crane or burj al arab with no safety harness
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i have however walked on traverses (with safety harness) no problem changing lights at the factory
[13:42] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): knowing i wont fall down
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): although it feels a bit weird at first like what am i doing up here?
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:43] herman Bergson: Does the diagramm makes ome ore sense to you now?
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): a bit maybe
[13:43] herman Bergson: geez...and for that I got up early.....!
[13:43] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i guess its like layers
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): in je Janssen en Tilanus...
[13:44] herman Bergson: even less Beertje :-)
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): omg!
[13:44] herman Bergson: lol
[13:44] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): grins
[13:44] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or a matruska doll with Physical existence being the largest outer doll and the top circles being the smallest doll inside
[13:45] herman Bergson: yes Bejiita..indeed
[13:45] herman Bergson: dumbest doll is the smallest one inside: us
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): and in the dumbest doll....there is nothing ツ
[13:46] herman Bergson: at least something, Beertje. namely nothing :-)
[13:46] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): or object oriented programming where the base class containing the main attributes for all living beings being the Physical exixtence class and the top ones inheriting all those attributes and adding their own are the top bubbles
[13:46] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): empty space:)
[13:47] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): some have lot's of it
[13:47] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): where we stand cause only we have the science metaphysics and ethics attibutes
[13:47] herman Bergson: yes Bejiita
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): but we also like all other live has physical existance, Thats it. This is just like OOP
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): i get it now!
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): ㋡
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): being a game developer om expert on OOP
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): Im
[13:48] herman Bergson: ok...You got it...then we are done for today :-)
[13:48] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): hehe
[13:49] herman Bergson: Thank you all for your attention :-)
[13:49] .: Beertje :. (beertje.beaumont): Thank you Herman
[13:49] herman Bergson: Class dismissed.....
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): thats what i thought when i studied the diagram in detail that "is this like.... yes it is!"
[13:49] Particle Physicist Bejiita (bejiita.imako): creative indeed Herman
