MD out of our depth

From: Nathan Pila (pila@sympatico.ca)
Date: Sat Nov 15 2003 - 01:37:35 GMT

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    Steve, Scott, David, Gert-Jan, Richard, August and whoever is here,

    Here is where I am coming from.

    Does any of this contradict your views?

    The human mind did not develop as a organ to solve philosophical problems. Rather, it evolved for a very different purpose. In that it is like the heart, lungs, or kidneys; that is, the brain has a specific job to fill namely to simply enhance the reproductive success of the body within which it resides.

    This is the biological purpose of every mind, human as well as animal, and moreover, it is its only purpose. The purpose of the heart is to pump blood. The brain's purpose is to direct our internal organs and our external behavior in a way that maximizes our evolutionary success.

    That's it. Given this, what is remarkable that the human mind is good at solving any problems whatsoever, beyond "Who should I mate with?," "What is that guy up to?," "How can I help my kid?," "Where are the antelopes hanging out at this time of year?"

    There is nothing in the biological specifications for brain-building that calls for a device capable of high-powered reasoning, or of solving abstract problems, or even providing an accurate picture of the "outside" world, beyond what is needed to enable its possessors to thrive and reproduce.

    It is unreasonable to expect the brain to be able to answer any question that it is capable of asking.

    So, questions of morality or ultimate purpose are beyond the capacity of our brain to solve. Further, it would be beneficial for an organism to think it exists, ergo it is reasonable to suggest that the brain could be hard wired to fall for the illusion of 'self'.

    Nathan

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