Philosophical Speculations

But I see a little of SH in BK in their personalities, their combativeness, and self-promotion.

With important differences, e.g. SH is too frit to debate BK. This means he knows he lacks the depth of insight that BK has.

At some point major exposure is destined. I feel it in my bones.

A classic! But we must add in a couple of quotes from the book: “What I've dared, I've willed; and what I've willed, I'll do! They think me mad—Starbuck does; but I'm demoniac, I am madness maddened! That wild madness that's only calm to comprehend itself!" “He piled upon the whale's white hump...

Wicked, Dana! Occasionally Captain Ahab must be allowed to pursue his Moby Dick.

Very clear exposition from BK. Personally, I like his abrasive side. We are what we are and it's best to be true to ourselves.

I'd suggest that BK's issues with him go deeper than just philosophical differences.

Perhaps SH is BK's Shadow.

Ah ... method to his mockery? SH does tend to draw a lot of clicks through the www viewfinder, which BK photobombs with an Essentia hyperlink

Yes, that makes sense. SH would probably convert to Mormonism (in handcuffs perhaps) before debating with BK.

The way I see it is more nuanced: BK does not really expect SH to accept, but a bit of baiting like this will surely help raise the profile of Essentia and analytic idealism.

Does it make sense to say subjective processes in M@L grew more complex and organized over time? There was no grand design or ‘plan’, but was it in the nature of M@L to dream up more complex patterns over time? Yes, I think it is. MAL is moving in a direction it prefers. Natural selection depends o...

although he says that it must be "in a sense" something other than nothing, that "in a sense" is an important qualifier: it's his admission that it also is nothing. Indeed, he goes so far as to say that M@L is nothing but its experiences. I find it helpful to think in terms of h...