Q's avatar is a picture of a brain in a vat. Is this in any reference to the Brain in a Vat argument? Should Q's posts be in some way or another interpreted in relation to the Brain in a Vat argument?
I think it is important also to note that we need not give Q's own opinion on the issue priority. He may have selected the symbol without consciously realizing its centralness. Writers are often not the best or most insightful critics of their own work.
Now, now. Let's assume that Greenberg has hit the reference on the head, so to speak. This image is a symbol of rational caution. One does not leap to conclusions because of how things seem. Seeming is not evidence. It implies a stance that is critical of evidence based on the senses.
Please remember that my vat is also an inter-galatic starship currently in orbit several thousand miles up.
I assume due to my knowledge of his low opinion of philosophy in general. Unless he's changed his mind.
VAT also means value added tax. The meaning becomes clear. Brain in a value added tax. Which is a scathing critique not only of theism but also nominalism.
The quote certainly forms a basis of critique of Greenberg's thesis, but offers no support of your thesis, except insofar as it is not Greenberg's. This latter is also true of my value added tax theory, for which I am grateful. Your first theory seemed to be, essentially, that he is making a claim of objectivity, which makes the brain in a vat a bad choice, but the value added tax theory a good one, since it is a tax intended to cover ALL business transactions, rather than a prejudiced tithing of certain sectors. Therefore: an objective tax. It can be further concluded that he see his posts as taxing.
No, I am not swayed. I think they are coins, silver ones, falling into the brain. The metaphor is knowledge = money science = taxation world = taxpayer brain = treasury department ----------} government works informed (payed for) via this process. Also note that copper oxidizes to precisely that color the liquid has. So the pennies or in any case copper coins have already gone through the liquid.