No. But I have been pondering wes' claim that thinking about thinking is enough to prove that you think, and since you think, you're therefore conscious and make choices with free will and shit. Actually, I guess there are several terms I'm fumbling with here.
The perfect thread for me Roman. Obviously, it is an interperation of the mind. The mind can be understood on many ways. Just as the mind can be destroyed... it can be concieved and thought of etc get it? The mind at its most fundamental level is what you are aiming at. Of course taking this into consideration from my perspective I say, how are you concieving of the statement, how are you concieving of the statement refering to "the mind at its most fundamental level is what you are aiming at"? I wouldn't know, but I would know if I knew what was on your mind right? Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! But you are entirely right in your claim at least for the most part, that thinking about thinking is enough to prove that you think, and since you think, you're "therefore" conscious and are able to make decisions with free will and shit. I would think that I talk therefore I exist, or, I talk therefore I present. Of course there is a universal way of presenting "this very" idea. Maybe. It's all about mind. Who cares if you're productive, then you are productively making decisions within your own 'consciousness'. God what a load of garbage. That's mostly what this stuff is. Unless you can say otherwise. Anyway... there's more but.. I can't..
I think I can quickly grasp this as a whole, and I tend to agree. But my objection is that this doesn't help anything. That is, saying about myself that if I can think about my thinking, this proves that I can think, and if I think, I am conscious and make choices with free will - does not help me in any way. I mean, what can I do with that? Show off to others? Attempt to convince myself that I have free will and that I therefore needn't be afraid that some evil spirit has possessed me? Prove to myself that I am conscious? Putting on your socks in the morning is more proof that one is conscious and can make choices with free will, than tons of words.
Some advanced computer programmes can hold a discussion. There are people I have come across on internet sites who have all the mental abilities of such a programme, merely giving accepted science as the answer to any question as though it had been quoted from an internet site and never going a millimetre further. The AlphaNumeric programme on Phy***g forum is a good example.
would this mean that people who are less likely to have metadiscussions are less free or able to make decisions? I think a case could be made for saying that people who don't think about their thinking are more able to be decisive
Absolutely. I would venture to say that the less one knows and the less one thinks, the easier it is to make a decision.
I don't know about 'knows', but certainly knowing when to think, and when to think about thinking, and when not to think and think about thinking are important decisive abilities. And intuition must be depended on. Thoughts have trouble prioritizing each other. They can always come up with arguments for and against. At the meta level it only gets more messy. I was also reacting in way around class, cultural issues. The academic world emphasizes a lot of thinking about thinking and as a field of interest I think there is valuable. But as a mode of living I think it can function very much like TV. It seems like an activity, but it isn't.
