Science Microthreads

Worldly and otherworldly topics
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Catoptric
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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by Catoptric » Mon May 24, 2021 8:53 pm

Does Consciousness Pervade the Universe?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/arti ... lp6fss_iyQ

Phillip Goff (the basis of the Author interview) overattributes the sensory experience with that of consciousness; suggesting that materialism exist extant throughout the universe by default of it existing manifest in nature, whereas in the microcosm of being lifeforms inhabiting a small portion of the universe we presume our experience of being present is not ontologically sound as being the only form manifest as an experience of reality.

That consciousness is based on a premise of observer bias (ergo Descartes believed 'God' exists because he is aware of the idea that such a thing exists as an ideological construct,) cannot--in reality--presume that such a thing actually exists

For consciousness to manifest as an experience it expects from a materialism perspective to depend on the facility of the human brain to be aware that it itself exists as an entity capable of reflection based on "consciousness" as an experience; things like starfish which may only react to what the environment around it dictates might not have the facility of consciousness, just as plants are considered merely a program of biofeedback, the same as any person might be in a vegetative coma (hence the claim by OBE experiencers has been hypothesized to suggest that consciousness becomes exogenous to the "experiencer" if they are considered incapable of having anything more than an autonomic response to the environment.)

Perhaps I'm assuming that perception of physical matter is a heuristic of observer sensing that physical space exists, because we ourselves affirm by our interaction with matter that "only matter exists," which by all accounts when examining physics we realize that our experience of the physical world is very finite compared to the vastness of dark matter/energy.

Dark Energy, Dark Matter
https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/f ... 20universe.

Putting it another way, if interpreting the concept of dimensions outside of theoretical mathematical constructs, from a "user perspective" our interface of time and space is relative to our concept of the physical construct of reality. A 'Flatlander' would only interpret the shadow cast from our three-dimensional presence, and vice-versa we could not interpret anything which resides outside of how our brains interpret physical matter.

A spatial construct of time and space is relativistic and perhaps if time is merely a construct of that experience, what is to say that 'identity' and thought are no different from an illusion of egoic constructs? Is God an egoic construct we use to justify the limitations of our observation of reality, which people identify with vicariously, as we are not able to perceive what is otherwise unattainable? If Descartes assumed that an idea of 'God' was good he would have been neglecting to identify with passages in the Bible which clearly illustrate a dualistic construct.

The idea that god--ergo universe--is a binary self-replicating fractal might be believed to have begun as an idea by Jacob Boehme, though the idea really seems to have begun with the Vedic mythologies, and Indras "net of jewels" which seems to resemble how people perceive the appearance of the universe. A Physicist named Ken Hughes further illustrates a binary construct and perceives a binary code is embedded in the "fabric of the universe" wherein 'reality' is illustrated as a holographic construct.

This post on Quora seems to identify with the human perception being a construct of what we believe is a physical space, and for all anyone really knows, we could be experiencing one component of a "fractal."

https://www.quora.com/I-was-wondering-w ... &srid=HPgR

A better article on the subject of panpsychism examines the history of such ideas (which I neither agree nor disagree with, though I am convinced that consciousness seems to exist after the physical body ceases to function.) I consider consciousness a byproduct of sensory experience and assume that how nature works on a quantum level, explains some aspects of how matter interacts.

Galileo’s Error by Philip Goff review – a new science of consciousness
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/ ... off-review
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Catoptric
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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by Catoptric » Tue Jun 08, 2021 10:37 pm

Don't watch this while/before eating. . .






Is human consciousness creating reality?
https://bigthink.com/surprising-science ... ng-reality

The Moderator kind of ruins the potential of the group (and you can tell he didn't mesh well with the conversation potential) though it does get into the topic of manufacturing genomes and how things can be created that have the potential to develop into dangerous lifeforms (virus, etc. or ecoli is mentioned at 36 minutes in.) This was in 2016, and it's nothing new to be concerned with as things like the Andromeda Strain were written some decades ago, and biological warfare is very old.
Societal egress and ennui
Hello / Goodbye / Just a moment / Nothing / Cosmic / Man / Dream / Civilization / Open / Contact / Tremble / Gas / Memory / Transcend / ^2

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by HighlyIrregular » Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:15 am

They say we'll be finding alien life in a few years. I guess it would be plant life detected from gas emissions, and maybe even from seasonal color changes. I'm not sure whether the next generation of telescopes would be able to see herds of animals moving, but maybe the generation after that. If there's life around Proxima Centauri, we may get decent photos of it within 30 or so years and travel there within a lifetime (just speculating). In 40 or 50 years there may be medical advances that allow us to live to 140 so we may live long enough to witness man on an extra-solar planet that has life.

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by SomeInternetBloke » Thu Nov 04, 2021 5:52 am

HighlyIrregular wrote:
Thu Nov 04, 2021 2:15 am
They say we'll be finding alien life in a few years. I guess it would be plant life detected from gas emissions, and maybe even from seasonal color changes. I'm not sure whether the next generation of telescopes would be able to see herds of animals moving, but maybe the generation after that. If there's life around Proxima Centauri, we may get decent photos of it within 30 or so years and travel there within a lifetime (just speculating). In 40 or 50 years there may be medical advances that allow us to live to 140 so we may live long enough to witness man on an extra-solar planet that has life.
Arrr. We need to improve the restroom experience somehow. Like, find some way to eliminate pooping. Any ideas. I'm gonna have a go at brainstorming.
"My favourite song from one of my favourite albums, Nena asking you to please, please let her be your pirate. So smooth and joyful, I have to listen to it three times if I listen once" - ashi

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by HighlyIrregular » Sat Nov 06, 2021 3:33 pm

In some ways, the old forum was perfect. I don't know what happened to it :confused:. It already had a bunch of threads perfectly suited to me. I guess because I started them. One was something like "Things you feel you should understand but don't". That would be good for this post but I'll just use this thread.

Does anyone feel comfortable that the ten billion dollar James Web Telescope was probably a good investment? Do you have some concept of the monetary return on the investment, like so many more astronomers staying in the US that US companies earn more than ten billion dollars from it? Do you understand what you get from ten billion dollars of medical research and figure it's not as big a deal as finding aliens for some reason? Do you think the military gets enough out of it, indirectly, that it's worth it? Or what? Is it all about political influence and no regular citizen in his right mind would think it's worth it?

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by Senseye » Sat Nov 06, 2021 7:05 pm

HighlyIrregular wrote:
Sat Nov 06, 2021 3:33 pm
Does anyone feel comfortable that the ten billion dollar James Web Telescope was probably a good investment?
I'm good with it. I'm good with all spending on space and space exploration. I am also a big fan of spending on medical research, but there should be enough money for both.

There is probably too much spending on the poor, although one needs a certain level of a social safety net to avoid chaos. And the uber rich don't really need all their extra billions. So there are places to cut other than scientific research.

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by HighlyIrregular » Sun Nov 14, 2021 6:41 pm

When will it REALLY be too late to stop global warming? Will there be a point when we might as well start using coal again? They have giant air cleaners now. I was wondering about something like that for a long time but I never heard a rigorous argument for why something like that isn't possible or isn't cost effective. Last I heard was "they're not the answer" but WHY? It costs money to prevent global warming the way environmentalists want, and the machines cost money. Which costs more? Why not machines?

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Senseye
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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by Senseye » Sun Nov 14, 2021 8:27 pm

So many issues.

As to when it will really be too late to stop global warming, who knows? I am not a global warming denier, but climate scientists are generally about as clueless as their lesser weather forecasting cousins. And it's more about politics than science these days anyhow.

I don't think carbon scrubbing is cost effective right now (certainly not on a large scale), but it might come to this eventually. If people actually start to die in significant numbers (not "give us cash" campaigning about suffering, but the actual real deal, which will be noticeable by actual population declines) cost becomes less of a factor. I'd spend all my wealth trying to keep myself alive if that was the only choice. That's probably a widespread sentiment, but the wolves have to be at the door first, not prognosticated to arrive in 100 years or so by dubious forecasters with a socialist political agenda.

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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by HighlyIrregular » Tue Nov 30, 2021 6:19 pm

We're going to find evidence of extrasolar life with the James Webb telescope. Launch date is Dec. 22. I've been thinking of the ramifications and how I could profit from it. The first evidence we find probably won't be the strongest or most interesting, but it may be from the easiest to study planet. Maybe I should rush to register a website named after that planet and make it the world's leading repository of information on it. I was also thinking about how it would affect home telescope sales, but the difference between what you can see with a home telescope and what you'll hear about new discoveries by the big guys will be greater, so it may hurt home telescope sales. NASA's budget may increase. More people will study astronomy and salaries for astronomers may drop. I'm probably missing some ramifications.

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Ferrus
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Re: Science Microthreads

Post by Ferrus » Wed Dec 01, 2021 10:37 pm

Catoptric wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 8:53 pm
Does Consciousness Pervade the Universe?
Betteridge's law:

https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/Betteridge%27s_law

Examples:

http://betteridgeslaw.com/
Ex falso, quodlibet

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