RE: virus: Level 0 (formerly: is Clinton level 3)

zaimoni@ksu.edu
Thu, 12 Dec 1996 10:21:52 -0600 (CST)


On Wed, 4 Dec 1996, Schneider John wrote:

>
> Kenneth Boyd wrote:
> > 2) Of course it's confusing! Having experienced 'believing that
> > I believe something without actually believing it', I regret to
> > say that it *is* possible.
>
> I haven't experienced this.... (I don't think so, anyway...)
>
> > The problem is that one's metaknowledge can be subject to
> > inaccuracy as well.
>
> My meta-belief is that there are no absolute truths, which
> passes as my only pseudo-absolute-truth. Given this 'belief',
> then, I have no other beliefs. Would it be the case if I, in
> the future, have a 'religious experience', and start to believe
> in God, that what I am currently doing is 'believing that I
> believe something even though I don't believe it'? (I'm just
> trying to understand the concept via example here.)

I don't think so. While beliefs are stable long-term, they can be
changed without risking total mental breakdown.

> Eva wrote:
> > Yup. And one's conscious mind can be going in one direction,
> > and thinking one thing, while one's unconscious can be working
> > in another direction with purposes that are opaque to the
> > conscious mind and contrary to its goals and stated beliefs.
>
> This sounds to me like a theory of the relationship between the
> conscious and unconscious mind. In order for it to be proven
> 'true', one would need to become consciously aware of the
> unconscious mind, in order to consciously know which way it's
> going... but if one is consciously aware of the unconscious,
> well, then the unconscious is no longer unconscious... this
> leads me to think we're just working with a different level
> of consciousness, but not at the level of UNconsciousness,
> which is, by definition, outside of consciousness.

There's a huge difference between consciously modelling the unconscious,
and being aware of the unconscious. Eva's statement only requires the
former, not the latter.

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/ Towards the conversion of data into information....
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/ Kenneth Boyd
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