Preaching to the choir on this one, BK
Posted: Sat Mar 27, 2021 5:19 pm
1) In his latest AMA, Bernardo says that "from the viewpoint of qualitative consciousness if you feel the same than you are effectively the same."
He says this in the context of his deprivation tank thought experiment.
I know this thought experiment probably works for those of us who already have strong reasons to conclude there can only be one consciousness, but I think it is a fairly terrible thought experiment if you are talking to people who haven't yet embraced a form of idealism.
2) several times I've heard Bernardo claim that materialism as a whole was very consoling to the average person because it made the average person feel, "Oh, wow! I won't ever have to worry about having bad feelings again once I die." I think this points to a specific blind spot in Bernardo. No doubt that some people feel that materialism brings them relief. Of course. But, on the whole, I find that my deeply materialistic friends have all kinds of existential neuroses that my religous and idealist friends have much less of. I think we see this on a social level as well.
Equally confusing: Bernardo has described the deep fear that idealism gives him because upon death his personal existence will be reabsorbed into universal consciousness and, therefore, can never get away from unpleasant feelings.
Aren't his unpleasant feelings part of his aler that goes away when his consciousness goes back to its essence? Or has he given reasons why he believes that mind at large is an unpleasant phenomenon?
He says this in the context of his deprivation tank thought experiment.
I know this thought experiment probably works for those of us who already have strong reasons to conclude there can only be one consciousness, but I think it is a fairly terrible thought experiment if you are talking to people who haven't yet embraced a form of idealism.
2) several times I've heard Bernardo claim that materialism as a whole was very consoling to the average person because it made the average person feel, "Oh, wow! I won't ever have to worry about having bad feelings again once I die." I think this points to a specific blind spot in Bernardo. No doubt that some people feel that materialism brings them relief. Of course. But, on the whole, I find that my deeply materialistic friends have all kinds of existential neuroses that my religous and idealist friends have much less of. I think we see this on a social level as well.
Equally confusing: Bernardo has described the deep fear that idealism gives him because upon death his personal existence will be reabsorbed into universal consciousness and, therefore, can never get away from unpleasant feelings.
Aren't his unpleasant feelings part of his aler that goes away when his consciousness goes back to its essence? Or has he given reasons why he believes that mind at large is an unpleasant phenomenon?