Knowledge & Illusion (for Romansh) (General)

by romansh , Sunday, February 26, 2012, 22:48 (4655 days ago) @ David Turell

My regular body chemistry is not programmed to control me.
What about your irregular body chemistry. It would appear you believe in a ghost in the machine?-> As you describe, but the metabolic light-up is based on increased blood flow to the area to handle increased metabolism in the area, not neuron activity. 100 billion neurons with several trillion connections (synapses)and we really can't follow the raging electricity.-Again an aside - is the oxygenated porphorin response a proxy for blood flow? Or is there some sort of doppler effect that is being measured.-> Of course emergence is a non-answer. It is the best term we have.
To me emergence is sort of synomynous with I don't know, it's too complicated, I don't care I have to give an explanation.-> At the particle level or at the gauss lines they are on their own. But per quantum math, their average is steady and doesn't affect 'me'. Don't let uncertainty upset you. 
It does not upset me at all. So you are saying this kind of indeterminism is irrelevant to your argument. Fair enough.-> Our reality runs pretty well without surprises. It is when we delve into the quantum level to see what's going on that we discover all the counter-intuitive stuff. My God hides behind all that barrier, and probably giggles a little at our current confusion.
I doubt it, but that is OK
 
> Don't let the second law confuse you. Life overcomes entropy. We have an input of energy from the sun which is following the Second Law. We don't have to. we can organize and stay organized because of that energy input, which e put to good use.
Actually there is nothing to overcome. Without entropy there would be no life no death.-But within the second law delta G in particular we law of mass action, the rate laws all nicely built in. So it is nice to know that you control the underlying chemistry, you can manipulate where equilibrium is and the rates that you approach that equilibrium. Interesting.-
> My genetics come to me fixed in place. I asssume I do a little epigenetic molding, especially my very plastic brain in younger years, but that molding is putting 'me' in place for the rest of my life. The chemistry and physics of my brain gets to a fixed place and I am 'me'. Example: I grew up in a standard liberal Jewish New York family. Loved New York and FDR. I learned better. I am now a Reagan Republican, a conservatve Texan thru and thru, and there is an S&W by my bed. I'm not paranoid. I am free of those original constraints. New York is good to visit for theater.-Well, if I lived in Texas I too might want a S&W next my bed to protect me from all the idoiots like me who also own guns.-But seriously, I sincerely hope your S&W is locked away in a secure gun cabinet next to your bed, and not in your bedside draw.
 
> Darwin thought white folks were superior to all the others. We will leave the eugenics movement out of our discussion.
Is this all of the Darwinian crap? I agree Darwin too was a product of his time. Much as I am a product of mine. Growing up in England I do find the need for a gun at my bedside similar thinking one race is better than another.-> I haven't, but probably need to. I'm a Liberarian from your definitions.-Have fun