 What I believe
Thank you for answering my message Alex. You want to know what I believe? Not much of anything. I do trust certain data when it can be uniformly and transparently verified. But I'm also willing to throw out all of that when it can be uniformly and transparently proven false. You talk of this sufficient empirical evidence to overthrow the commonly held belief that our conscious experience is only the result of the physical processes of our brain. I just find so many things wrong with that statement. First of all, you never really outline the empirical evidence that is out there. You just kind of make that statement and move on. No references, links, anything. Second, your use of the word overthrow. I don't think that science really works that way. Now if you said "add to" or even "rethink", then I might not pick on you about this tiny detail. When you say overthrow, it seems to say that all of the data that we have to this point is invalid. It also seems to say that one swift shift in the data is going to completely change the way that we think about the world. There is nothing wrong with changing a paradigm. I'm all for it. But to use the word overthrow, seems to indicate that science can be changed overnight. That can't, and shouldn't happen. All data up to this point should never be thrown out because of a single confirmed study. Science takes time. And the good science, just like the cream and everything else, will always rise to the top.
I still must say, I do enjoy the show. I think that you have alot of guts bringing the people that you do on the show. It is definitely a lesson in good and bad arguing. And yes, sometimes you come out looking better than the other guy.  |