[I had a great day showing my friends around the island today. It didn’t rain on us at all, which is something when you live in a rain forest.]
@Seek_Kolinahr : I am also concerned that the article may misrepresent Dawkins’ ideas, but that won’t make me embrace Dawkins’ atheism. The article points out that there are centuries of philosophical debate for us to study about God’s existence or absence, which Dawkins does not explore. But I’m not asking about God’s existence in this question. I’m asking about the nature and origin of consciousness.
The article states, ”[Believers] will also cite our experiences of our own conscious life (thoughts, feelings, desires, etc.) as excellent evidence for the existence of immaterial realities that cannot be fully understood by science.” Where do we get our deepest desires?
I toured a spectacular garden today, and I stood in awe of an orchid. It was deep purple with pendulous petals. I was simultaneously struck by my awe, by the feeling itself. Why did that flower affect me? What is the me that is affected?
@FireMadeFlesh : Thank you for the book suggestion. I will look for it, and I will look into dualist theories.
@ETpro : Removing parts piece by piece until the whole completely breaks down doesn’t seem to me to completely disprove the idea that the spark arrives in us from somewhere else. In the end, our “I“ness (I like that term, by the way) may be an emergent metaphenomenon, as you say, but for me, today, sitting in my chair, it may be something more.
@everyone who has contributed to this thread so far, thank you. I am just a small thing living on a small planet in a remote end of a single galaxy in a universe so vast that I pale at trying to comprehend it.
But I’ve got questions. Lots and lots of questions.