Buddhism and Karma (Religion)

by xeno6696 , Sonoran Desert, Sunday, December 15, 2013, 05:38 (3994 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

Matt: And I would state that I don't think we can make that case. I can write a computer program that has no consciousness, yet clearly displays intelligent behavior. How about that robot I posted about some years back that was able, by the simple act of observation, to derive Newton's equations for motion?
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> This is why I tried (unsuccessfully) to underscore the importance of abstract thinking in the definitions. Your computer program will be able to make logical decisions based on whatever criteria you allow, but will it be able to generate new ideas from abstract concepts? If instinct is hard-coded pre-programmed behavior, and basic intelligence is decisions based on pre-defined logic programming, then we need a new word for what it is that humans do because we go far, far beyond either of those categories.-I don't disagree with that at all. What always sucks me back in though, is the question of whether intelligence isn't simply an emergent property of a particular configuration of neurons. (By emergent, I mean the observation of ant colony intelligence. What if human intelligence isn't simply an observation of a more sophisticated emergent property? Free will COULD be an illusion. (Though I don't believe that.) ) -Hey, and for the record, after having watched all of Survivorman and especially "Beyond Survival," I understand beyond a shadow of a doubt your original criticism about my understanding of science. Ancient peoples, regardless of how we view their societies to our own, solved many of the same problems, and it behooves us to learn about these solutions, even if they might take us down uncomfortable holes.

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\"Why is it, Master, that ascetics fight with ascetics?\"

\"It is, brahmin, because of attachment to views, adherence to views, fixation on views, addiction to views, obsession with views, holding firmly to views that ascetics fight with ascetics.\"