The Cartesian theater

More pearls of wisdom from the Rational Skepticism Forum:

Ven. Kwan Tam Woo » Sep 22, 2014 6:01 am
The fact of the matter is that, so far as this debate is concerned, he is on the same side as those Muslim terrorists.

i) An allegation which he hasn't even attempted to demonstrate.

ii) But since he wants to talk about terrorism, what's his position on ecoterrorism, viz. ALF, ELF, SSCS, Earth First? Aren't their members typically adherents of naturalistic evolution?

The idea that atheism leads to moral relativism and nihilism is as fallacious as it is offensive

That's an idea I got from prominent secular philosophers, viz. Michael Ruse, Joel Marks, Alex Rosenberg, Quentin Smith, J. L. Mackie, Massimo Pigliucci.

You want religious justifications for extremist acts?

Pretending to answer a question I didn't ask.

So bombing clinics “after hours” is okay is it?

Here we have an atheist who's so intellectually challenged that for him, distinguishg what is less worse from what is far worse is equivalent to "okay." If I say burning a human alive is far worse than burning a dog alive, does that mean burning a dog alive is "okay"?

You have to wonder: is he an atheist because he's that obtuse–or is he that obtuse because he's an atheist?

Well now he knows how narcissistic psychopaths feel! I hope I never run into this guy in a dark alley! First he suggests that it’s okay to bomb abortion clinics “after hours”, and now this.

Notice how he's admitted in a roundabout way that atheism is dangerous. It isn't safe to be an atheist if you take it too seriously. It is dangerous to be a consistent atheist. Dangerous to think it through to its logical conclusion. And especially dangerous to act on it.

No it’s not. It’s an adaptation-oriented description.

He used the word "fulfill." That's a teleological concept.

Simply put, natural selection gives the illusion of brain evolution moving towards a particular goal.

If natural selection generates illusions, how would he be in any position to detect the illusion? His brain is a product of that delusive process.

Re serial killers: the question was why we value things, *not* whether it is right or wrong to value certain things.

Which is a problem for his position inasmuch as atheism is unable to bridge the gap between moral psychology and moral ontology.

Perhaps the author could enlighten us as to why his “loving” God has seen it fit create serial killers who derive pleasure from wanton murder?

I've discussed theodicy on many occasions. Try asking a question I haven't answered already.

How does it beg the question?? The evidence that thought arises from neurological activity is overwhelming. Those “eminent” philosophers (I assume he means people like Chalmers?) are pulling assertions out of their arses.

Which does nothing to refute their arguments.

Well at least he is admitting that he’s motivated by fear, that’s a start.

No, I used the word "suppose." That's a cue that I'm speaking hypothetically. For the sake of argument. Get it?

His fear is not an effect of “physical determinism” (which I never mentioned), rather it is a product of his own religious baggage. No one is “blaming” brain chemistry for anything. Yes you can in fact influence what your brain tells you, but in order to do that you have to understand and accept how the brain works first.

Notice that he's captive to the Cartesian theater. He's a physicalist, yet he acts like he's an independent observer of his neurological outputs. As if he's a homunculus who's watching the action and assessing the action. But if physicalism is true, there is no "he" distinct from his brain. His claim is circular: to say "you can influence what your brain tells you" translates into "your brain can influence what your brain tells you." As though your brain can peer over its shoulder and correct what your brain is doing.

No, that’s a straw man. It is a causal, selective, and adaptation-driven process in which complexity builds upon itself.

To say it's "causal, selective, and adaptation-driven" doesn't contradict the fact that it's a blind, undirected process.

To take a comparison, suppose I throw dice to bet on horses or play the stock market. Is that a reliable method to pick horses or pick stocks? No, because there's no intelligence behind the outcome. Like a brain that's the product of naturalistic evolution. Just a roll of the dice.

What I’m asking is how does he explain the origin and functioning of the mind of his god?

Only contingent entities have an origin. So his question is a category mistake.

The emotional effects are real whether you are consciously aware that the story and characters are fictional or not. If you can just switch them off by reminding yourself that it’s not real, then the movie makers haven’t done their job properly.

I appreciate his frank admission that an atheist finds it hard to distinguish between fiction and reality. That goes a long way towards explaining why he's an atheist in the first place.