Explore
 Lists  Reviews  Images  Update feed
Categories
MoviesTV ShowsMusicBooksGamesDVDs/Blu-RayPeopleArt & DesignPlacesWeb TV & PodcastsToys & CollectiblesComic Book SeriesBeautyAnimals   View more categories »
Listal logo

What do you believe but cannot prove?

VIP
jclements 18 years, 7 months ago at Nov 2 21:19 -
An interesting read in the spirit of current conversations.

www.edge.org/q2005/q05_print.html
Anonymous 18 years, 7 months ago at Nov 3 15:56 -
That "time" doesn't exist outside of perception; that it's an evolutionary trick that helps us to survive (seeing a busy road we want to cross as it is in the early hours of the morning would only get us killed), and though it helps us in this sense, it hinders us in the sense of masking the true nature of the universe.
Anonymous 18 years, 7 months ago at Nov 16 14:53 -
Any more for any more?
zabdiel 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 13:06 -
I'm half way through the book that they made of it at the moment.

Here's mine:
That earth is the only place with life in the universe.
Anonymous 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 13:40 -
I thought about this thread, when I read your post on the 'What are you reading?' thread.

*Why* do you believe the Earth is the only life-bearing place in the universe?
Deleted user
Deleted 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 13:48 -
I'll try to contribute one:

Everyone has the same length of existence. The people who live longer have a faster consciousness, and those who live shorter have slower consciousness.

I'm pretty sure this can't be proven at this point in technological advancement.
Anonymous 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 14:38 -
I'm not really sure I know what you mean by 'faster' and 'slower' consciousness, and why you think it might be faster in people who live longer, than in people who have shorter lifespans.

Could you elaborate?
zabdiel 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 14:41 -
*Why* do you believe the Earth is the only life-bearing place in the universe?

I should know better than posting something I don't have a proper logical reason for in the philosophy group :)

I'll have a think...

Thilian - does it matter how the person dies? If someone shoots me would my the speed of my consciousness be defined by the length of my life - or would if be defined by the length I would have lived if I'd not been shot? The first option would be interesting if it were true - I'd imply that some part of me knew when I was going to die.
Anonymous 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 14:54 -
Mind you, I have met people I think *do* have slower consciousness, and some people who distinctly appear to have *no* consciousness at all (I've been one of those people myself, on many a night out).
Deleted user
Deleted 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 15:59 -
I'm not really sure I know what you mean by 'faster' and 'slower' consciousness, and why you think it might be faster in people who live longer, than in people who have shorter lifespans.

Could you elaborate?

Sorry if what I said was confusing. I tried it one way; now I'll try it another.

Say, for instance, one person lives for two years exactly. Poor baby, I know, but that's the example. And then consider a toddler runs out into the street on his fourth birthday, and gets runover by a car.

Sound pessimistic? I'm sorry. But think of the two year old's point of view. And then take the toddler's. The toddler's would be two times, like that effect you get when you fast forward on a tape recorder and it sounds like a chipmunk. It goes faster to get through things the same amount the baby does. In addition, think of the toddler. Then take the two year old. It's state of being is like slow motion in comparison, 2X slower.

This is just a fun little thing I like to think about. Any more questions, feel free to ask.
Thilian - does it matter how the person dies? If someone shoots me would my the speed of my consciousness be defined by the length of my life - or would if be defined by the length I would have lived if I'd not been shot? The first option would be interesting if it were true - I'd imply that some part of me knew when I was going to die.

The first option. :)
Anonymous 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 16:12 -
I'm more confused about what you're saying now, and why you believe that, I'm afraid. Sorry! With the example you've just given, you seem to be talking about perception, which is an aspect of consciousness, but far from the whole story. Unless you've used it as an analogy, in which case I'm really not sure what it's supposed to relate to.


"The first option"

In quantum mechanics, it's entirely possible for the present to influence the past (which seems to be what you're suggesting with a person's death deciding on how 'fast' - still not sure what you mean by this - a person's conciousness was whilst he was alive), but that's the *quantum* world, which seems to work very differently to 'our' classical world.
Deleted user
Deleted 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 16:38 -
Eh... My views aren't for everyone, I guess. :)

It's just an interesting thing, to think that other people perceive things at a different speed. Of course, they're used to the speed they're at, so balance is secured.
Anonymous 17 years, 11 months ago at Jul 5 16:48 -
Ah, so you *are* talking about perception? As I said above, that isn't 'consciousness', but an aspect of it. And I'd be interested to know how you think a person's perception has anything to do with how long they live, or how their death can retroactively influence their perception during life. This seems errant nonsense, to me, but if it isn't what you're suggesting, apologies!

However, it is known that peoples' perception of time can alter under stress (here, I'm thinking of the oft-reported feeling of time slowing down in life-threatening conditions - say, a car crash. There is some experimental evidence that does imply that subjective time does indeed slow down in such circumstances). This seems to be the closest to what you appear to be postulating.