Cogito

It seems in this passage that every noun (excepting "thing") is capitalized. I think the first two words are in all caps because it is the opening of a letter.

As amusing as all that was... Could you explain what you actually meant?

Just a small thing here... Shouldn't that read "negative feedback loop"?

High school student... But I don't intend to remain one (Sorry, couldn't resist).

Added a poll!

My parents have said that they want to understand me and where I come from philosophically, and so promised to read one book of my choosing by Rand. They won't read a pure philosophy book, so the choice is between her fiction writing... Which do you reccomend I give them?

Was this a public charity?

Ok, fine... Can you explain the connection between being able to compute vast sums using completely deterministic algorithms is related to volitional consciousness?

There is a vital difference between computing power and consciousness that I think you're missing... I don't really want to go into the whole issue, but if you're willing to read a book that has its faults but explains the issue well I reccomend The Emperor's New Mind by Roger Penrose.

Yeah... That's it. Hit it dead on. Thanks... Now I just need to work on proper articulation... Hey, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to build a better foundation for my philosophical beliefs, that will certainly help here.

Hey all, I'm having a problem that I'm pretty sure only you guys can help with. I've long since been used to the fact that everyone I've met and talked to for anylength of time so far holds a multitude of flawed premises, and I accept my friends for the good I see in them and try to avoid the bad while avoiding sanctioning it. The problem is, every once in a while I find myself getting into an ethical or political debate that brings out the pure irrationality in people, and it sours my mood for the rest of the day and I become completely uncivil and take it out on people not involved. As an example, tonight I saw the movie Blood Diamonds with a friend. On the way home, she mentioned how she wanted to join the peace corps, and we got into a big debate about whether or not it helps. Now, I personally think an organization that gives more to people the worse they are is only furthering the problem, and she is convinced that peace corps and similar organizations are the only way to solve the problem. Now, I can understand a difference of opinion, but when we debated she dismissed my ideas as unrealistic and used the "life's not that simple" card, and refused to accept the posibility that her ideas might lead to harm in the area. Since then, I've been moody, snapped at both my parents and a few of my friends, and am in general feeling like shit. I hate that this bothers me so much, and I hate having this issue over and over again... In fact, if I'm not in a good mood you can almost be sure it is because of this issue. Any thoughts are greatly apreciated.

Happy New Year! שנה טובה ומתוקה! A happy and productive New Year to all!

Wrangler Sport '06

I don't really know how to respond to the rest of your post, but I can say that this is definitely not true... Why else would so many criminals cut so many deals and beg and plead and appeal to turn a death sentence into a life one?

You would have to show us the evidence you are using to get to your conclusion (as well as define what you mean by god, because most definitions are logically impossible). If you don't show us your evidence or your reasoning, you'll have a hard time convincing us that god exists. Oh, and to save you some time looking, it doesn't.

Assuming I accept your definition, do you see why the "faith" I hold that pressing the "Add Reply" button will allow you to view this post is different from the "faith" some hold that if they blow themselves up, they will get 70 virgins? [Edit below] Hey look, my faith was well founded!

Come on guys, we aren't being fair... I mean, perhaps these guys do have evidence that Jesus graced this fine continent with his presence, wrote his teachings on metal tablets that no one found for thousands of years, and turned the American Indians dark for sinning. Give them the benefit of the doubt here.

Here's the only good one I can find... I don't have many pictures of myself.

I'm currently in the process writing my list (most of which I'll probably post here eventually) but here's the beginning I wanted to share, and hear comments (Note that this was written for my sake, so there may be things you don't understand, if so, just ask): Shea's Resolutions New Years '06-'07 In order to achieve the ultimate goal of a happy, fulfilling life, you must: I. General Goals I1. Prerequisite for all goals: Learn how to set a good goal, how to schedule yourself to meet it, and actually do it. No more saying "I have to do X" and leaving it at that, expecting it to happen. First, explicitly define what X is. Don't leave any room for later vacillation on the issue; make it so you are either definitely working towards the goal or definitely working against the goal(in all contexts relating to the goal, if the goal has to do with something relating school it is possible you are neither working towards or against the goal when you are at the mall). Even if you're sure you'll know what you mean by a simply stated goal, there's no reason not to lay out explicitly what you mean. Then, lay out a plan to get there, a plan that forces you to be constantly acting towards your goal until the process is no longer forced, but is natural. This means: setting out, at regular intervals(weekly? daily? start with weekly), a schedule for the upcoming interval that lays out what you will do in that interval to approach that goal, a schedule that, if necessary(and it often will be), lays out a specific time to perform specific actions relating to the goal. Since you will be working towards many goals at the same time, this will mean a pretty full schedule; this is a good thing. Keeping yourself busy for keeping yourself busy's sake is a bad thing, which is why you have been averse to such schedules as laid out by your parents or teachers in the past; don't let that aversion carry over to keeping yourself busy for your sake. This may mean less free time, but free time is not what you want (stop associating free time with social time; that is what others consider free time, but social time can and should be scheduled. Free time is the time you spend with no plans, nothing to do except sit there thinking of what you should or want to be doing, essentially killing time). There are certain goals that are all-encompassing, that can't be divided into "at this time, do this", goals such as "don't lie" or "avoid getting into senseless arguments with irrational people", goals that, to steal a not-entirely applicable concept, are מצות לא תעש�” [note: a concept in Judaism referring to negative commandments, i.e. "Don't Kill"]; for those goals, set aside a time at the end of the day to ask yourself "did I hold myself up to this goal? if not, how did I fail? What can I do in the future to fix it?". The final step is the toughest: Following through. This is where the schedules will be particularly helpful, since you won't be able to say "I'll do it tomorrow". But in the end, it requires full thought and focus, avoiding at all costs the rationalizations that allow you to think in the present and only the present. Here, the fully explicit description of the goal will help, since the description will not only describe exactly what you need to achieve but also why. I1a. Lay out your goals explicitly (for the why, see above) I1b. Depending on how many goals you lay out, divide them up in such a way that you can lay out your long-term plan for accomplishing each of them while in Florida from Tuesday to Sunday[Note: I'll be in Florida from Tuesday to Sunday and won't be able to do much, so this will be a lot of "free" time]. Do this so that you know how to schedule your weeks and to remind yourself that, even though some of the goals may seem so large as to be impossible, each one can be broken down into smaller portions that you can accomplish (think of Dawkins's "cumulative selection"[note: a reference to Richard Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker]). I1c. On January 1st(and every seven days thereafter, barring a major change in approach), lay out plan for the upcoming week. You don't have to be to extremely strict, but make sure you have time to do all you need to do. For some of the goals you've had troubles with in the past, be more strict. Follow the guidelines set above, especially with respect to the time set aside at the end of each day for introspection. I1d. Start journal again, to keep track of your progress. This is one of the easiest things to do, it takes maybe five minutes before you go to bed each night, yet forces you to keep your goals constantly in the forefront of your mind. Each night, review your schedule for that week and, if necessary, your overall goal list, and see how well you've progressed and what you can do better. Thoughts? [edit below] P.S. I have 101 posts? Nifty [edit again] P.P.S. This is the first time I've ever had New Years resolutions... It's actually oddly invigorating writing this.

There is absolutely no evidence that it is even possible for robots to ever have a consciousness, let alone a volitional and rational one.

Same problem here.

Welcome Karl! Somehow I think you and I have a bit in common

I'm having a similar problem... I've held the convictions I have for as long as I remember (implicitly until I was around 11, more explicitly since)... It gets really tough sometimes knowing that most of my friends are just people that have similar interests to me, that they can barely relate to me and I barely to them. I'm only in high school... But it'd be so nice to have just one rational person around, one person I can relate to on an intellectual level, even if we share none of the same interests. But, not the case. I'd kill for a chance, one month every year, to take a vacation in a nice spot out in the Rockies with rational people who have rational values and don't run their lives like everyone I know does... It gets quite depressing, sometimes. I fear for mankind. That's one of the reasons I came to this forum... It's been a lifesaver. But most of you are much older than I am, and live far enough away to make the kind of friendship I'm looking for impossible. This is probably an incoherent mess, this problem has been getting me down quite a bit recently. I don't know what I hope to get out of posting this...

Ok, I'll stipulate that my method of replacing patents with contracts won't work. So I'll get back to my original question: Why are patents valid in the first place? You say "because man has a right to the products of his mind". So, if my mind comes up with the formula for dog-hair converter, why am I not allowed to use it?

But it isn't the same as other property rights... With physical property, if someone takes that which is not his, the person who owns it cannot use it. There is no "thought land" that only one person can occupy at once. So then why is it that I do not have the right to the product of my mind, if I figure out the formula for dog-hair converter I can't use it because someone halfway across the country (or the world?) has also figured it out? Really? What about in the case of software licensing? For many of the open source programs out there, by downloading the source you agree not to reproduce, distribute, or change the source without including the license, and that license can include terms about, as an example, where royalties go if any money is made. If I, with my perfectly clean record and background check, purchase a gun, am I allowed to leave it on the street where anyone can pick it up? Even if you answer yes, you might not be able to make it illegal to lose or abandon items, but you could make it a violation of contract to allow the property into the hands of someone who would violate any of the other terms of the contract. There are two ways to deal with this... One is to hold the original buyer responsible, since it was a part of the contract that he not allow this kind of thing to happen. The other (and this is much admittedly rarely applicable) is to design the product in such a way that it necessitates the agreement to the contract's terms before use (this could be done, for example, with a computer). You just trace the ownership of the copied product back until you get to the point where one owner allowed the product to pass hands without agreement to the contract... I'm not sure that this would be too much of a hassle. Perhaps I'm wrong here; I'm open to contrary evidence. Two ways to deal with this: One, not sell the object but sell the rights to use the object(thus keeping ownership with A the whole time). The other has to do with the way the contract is written. Couldn't I say "I will sell you this object on the condition that, if ownership is transfered in the future you are responsible to make sure that the next person will follow the conditions and I give you the right to transfer that responsibility to the next owner upon acceptance of the conditions of the contract and sale of the object" ? That keeps the legal chain connected back to the initial owner. Are any of my questions/objections addressed in these? I'll probably end up reading them anyway.