Posted by
glen e. p. ropella-2 on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Re-comm-was-Re-FW-Re-Emergence-Seminar-BritishEmergence-tp3654051p3666508.html
Thus spake Steve Smith circa 09-09-17 10:52 AM:
> Science offers the most obvious/best hope for measuring/defining an
> objective reality, yet its very methods are defined to *not* ever be
> able to yield conclusive, unquestionable, will-hold-forever,
> cannot-be-questioned results. All scientific results are, by
> definition, contingent.
_Very_ well said, Steve. Thanks for that little essay.
And in light of that well-stated position, I'll go back to this:
Thus spake Russ Abbott circa 09-09-16 06:36 PM:
> I find it hard to believe that GlenR (one "n". Sorry) doesn't "care
> whether there's a 'reality' out there or not." But even that
> statement implies there is an "in here and an out there" which again
> is my point, namely there is.
It just does not _matter_ to my behavior that there _be_ an objective
reality. That such a thing _exists_ is totally irrelevant to what I do
or don't do. What matters is the constraints on or extents of my
behavior. We speak about an objective reality as a convenient fictional
_medium_ for reconciling (making consistent) all the various behavior
constraints and extents. But that's all we use that fictional construct
("reality") for. It's just a linguistic or cognitive _hook_ onto which
we hang the consistency between various, otherwise independent, behaviors.
If you want to phrase it another way, we can say "existence is not a
property". It doesn't matter (which is why I don't care) whether
something _exists_ or not. What matters is the constraints and
allowances that "thing" provides for our behavior.
And in that context, the statement "I don't care whether or not there is
a 'reality' out there or not" does NOT imply there _is_ an "in here and
an out there". It only implies that I don't treat existence as an
ontological property.
--
glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095,
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