virus: Truth and memes
Nathaniel Hall (natehall@WORLDNET.ATT.NET)
Thu, 13 Aug 1998 21:53:31 -0600
Richard Brodie wrote:
>
> Nate wrote:
>
> << I gave what I had written a little more thought and I shall take this
> opportunity to clear up a few things. If what one considers is one
> particular aspect of reality, like , for example, " water is made of
> molecules composed of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom" then what
> I said still applies .>>
>
>R: So you really think that is True? Don't you know that there is no such thing
> as a molecule or an atom? Those are merely convenient names we give to fuzzy
> stuff because we want to understand it and recognize patterns.
>
N: Yes I really *do* think that is true. I'm reminded at this point of a
quote from the philosophers conference: some ideas are so outrageous
that only an intellectual could believe them. If you know of any
experiments which show that water is not H2O I'd like to know about it.
> << However a mind is composed of a great many
> particular beliefs, some right, some wrong. If two minds had the same
> error rate they would be equally valid overall but could still have
> disagreements.>>
>
> Right and wrong are based solely on their relation to your initial premises
> (memes).
>
> Richard Brodie
Right and wrong are based on how what you believe (your set of memes) is
consistent with the world as it really is. (reality)
Nate Hall