Continuity of consciousness may be a notion that's more significant than commonly imagined. Psychologist William James presented continuity in memorable form, in his "Principles of Psychology". 132 years later, his stream of thought, felt time-gaps, and unfelt time-gaps all remain active terms in the literature. Yet the greater concept -- subjective continuity -- seems not to be bounded by James' familiar text. The concept seems applicable even at the extremities of life; no accepted line of reasoning renders it inapplicable.
Continuity reasoning can be structured around the natural case; i.e., the natural conditions and transitions found at extremities. No fictive elements are necessary in the reasoning: no teleporters, duplicates, digital copies, or re-creations are required. In fact, sci-fi can cripple reasoning just because there's nothing to understand in the fictions, nothing functional inside the verbal "black box".
For my part, I've made do without such black box fictions; I reasoned without them. Judging from correspondence post-publication, this was the right call.
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Aristotle said, "All men by nature desire to know." This was in fact the very first sentence of Aristotle's "Metaphysics". What to make of the black box, then?
There's nothing to know about the word, "teleporter", for example. One can imagine things, of course; but these imaginings can't be solidified. A writer can say, "Let's assume the teleportation black box works this way," but he says this without authority. The reader can reply, "No, assume it works this entirely different way," and overwrite the author's analysis, freely. There's no end to that fictive back-and-forth; it goes on and on.
Common facts receive comparatively little analysis.
So, was Aristotle right or wrong? Where the word "metaphysics" pertains, do all men desire to know, or not?
Philosophy without the black box
Continuity of consciousness may be a notion that's more significant than commonly imagined. Psychologist William James presented continuity in memorable form, in his "Principles of Psychology". 132 years later, his stream of thought, felt time-gaps, and unfelt time-gaps all remain active terms in the literature. Yet the greater concept -- subjective continuity -- seems not to be bounded by James' familiar text. The concept seems applicable even at the extremities of life; no accepted line of reasoning renders it inapplicable.
Continuity reasoning can be structured around the natural case; i.e., the natural conditions and transitions found at extremities. No fictive elements are necessary in the reasoning: no teleporters, duplicates, digital copies, or re-creations are required. In fact, sci-fi can cripple reasoning just because there's nothing to understand in the fictions, nothing functional inside the verbal "black box".
For my part, I've made do without such black box fictions; I reasoned without them. Judging from correspondence post-publication, this was the right call.
-
Aristotle said, "All men by nature desire to know." This was in fact the very first sentence of Aristotle's "Metaphysics". What to make of the black box, then?
There's nothing to know about the word, "teleporter", for example. One can imagine things, of course; but these imaginings can't be solidified. A writer can say, "Let's assume the teleportation black box works this way," but he says this without authority. The reader can reply, "No, assume it works this entirely different way," and overwrite the author's analysis, freely. There's no end to that fictive back-and-forth; it goes on and on.
Common facts receive comparatively little analysis.
So, was Aristotle right or wrong? Where the word "metaphysics" pertains, do all men desire to know, or not?
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For consideration, the old essay: Metaphysics by Default
Chapters 1-4 are historical.
Chapters 5-7 give mathematical, computational, and neurological background, with a first inference.
Chapter 8 gives philosophical background, with a second inference.
Chapter 9 presents James' text and applies inferences toward reasoning for boundless continuity. Some novelties follow.
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