Cosmologic philosophy: quantum conscious universe (Introduction)

by dhw, Friday, February 23, 2018, 12:31 (2465 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

dhw: One up for panpsychism, but what is the origin of thought? The fact that we humans start out with perception/thought doesn’t mean that the materials we perceive were not there before thought. So maybe materials gave rise to rudimentary thought, which then evolved to its current complexity (bottom-up panpsychism) as opposed to complex thought giving rise to materials (top down, God-came-first theistic panpsychism). Won’t you join me on the fence?

DAVID: We started on a rocky EArth in an inorganic universe. So where did 'thought' come from? Certainly not chance. Your maybe is wishful thinking, with no basis in how we know thought is related to living brains.

My comment begins with the question: what is the origin of thought? You then ask the same question, to which I have offered two possible answers. There is no wishful thinking! Nobody knows how thought is related to living brains, because nobody knows where thought comes from, and so we offer hypotheses. Bottom-up panpsychism is no more and no less credible than top-down panpsychism – and indeed some would say that the top-down version, which entails an all-powerful being who might just possibly be nice to us, is far more a matter of wishful thinking than the bottom-up one, which does not allow for any such hopes.

TONY: And God said, "Let us make man in our image." Why should "our image" not refer to our level of consciousness which undoubtedly surpasses all other life forms on Earth? This would actually explain several phenomenon, including ghosts, nde's, magic, Peter walking on water, faith healing, etc.

If God exists, I am fully in agreement that the creation may well reflect the creator. And I see no reason why this reflection should not be looked at in reverse: if man reflects God, then it is perfectly reasonable to suppose that what is reflected includes everything you and I love about humans and everything we hate about humans. You don’t need me to draw up a list.