Philosophy of Mind: review of John Searle and B Alan Wallace debate

[jollysmiler1212]

this isn't on topic but you are cute,im just saying x] good review

[BearsEatBeats914]

A good post Pathlesspath. I would very much like to see the original debate as well. I was pleasantly surprised to find that you, unlike most Youtube posters, seem to actually have a good grasp of the issues at stake. I especially like the fact that you highlighted Searle's argument about reductionism and our inability to "cut off" the appearance of consciousness from the reality, because in the case of consciousness, there is no distinction between appearance and reality.

[mscolombos]

can you upload the debate between searle and wallace to youtube?

i would like to see the context of your remarks

[thepathlesspath]

I would love to (and will try to).. it's a loooong debate and a biggg file, so we'll see :) If I do, I'll be sure to send a message your way.

[davidrigel]

Pathlesspath, Alan Wallace is not in his way to become a neuroscientist like you suggest at the beginning of the video. He's a Buddhist scholar, writer and translator. It's also true that he has been collaborating with neuroscientists to understand better the effects of meditation in the brain.

[myndae]

Pathlesspath, your videos are like a breath of fresh air, circulating in the moldy, mindless, room known as YouTube.

[thepathlesspath]

Why thankyou. Here's some mildew-mind remover! Someone should invent that product....

[2bsirius]

Really interesting...

Owen Flanagan writes about some of these points too...

Excellent video. I'm always surprised that you don't get more views.

[thepathlesspath]

Thanks :) Glad to know you and others are appreciating these videos! They're fun to talk about, especially with feedback :D

[HaleyMary]

It's interesting in a way, how the western society is focused more on the physical aspect of life while the eastern society is focused more on the spiritual aspects of life. It makes me wonder if people may not understand everything about the mysteries of life unless they look at all the angles and keep an open mind about things.

[thepathlesspath]

The thing I like about our time and place in history, is that in a way we aren't quite from either tradition. We're in a strange cross roads where we can take wisdom and knowledge from all traditions, a convergence if you will... and create something new and transcendent with it. :)

[HaleyMary]

I like that about our generation, too. I find these days that secularism is more accepted in society these days, but just because people hold secular, agnostic or atheistic views it doesn't really change the importance of the knowledge that the Egyptian, Greek, Romans, and Eastern traditions taught in the past. A lot of the stuff about the stars and constellations and pyramids in Egyptian culture for example can in some ways be of use today. :)

[gerontodon]

I don't know if I count as being in your generation - hopefully you mean everyone alive and vaguely conscious! I used to think that this was a confusing and alienating time, which I think people have been moaning about for decades. I think you're right though, there's an upside to everything. Just having the opportunity to consider lots of perspectives is good if you can take it.

[0ThouArtThat0]

Two philosophers I really admire, but don't agree with on every point. I've only read a bit of each, haven't done a serious study on either. Probably lean more toward Wallace, so far. Thanks for the link! I'm going to watch it now. I'll let you know what I think afterward.

[0ThouArtThat0]

I can't convert that format... is the video hosted anywhere else?

[thepathlesspath]

I downloaded the latest Real Player (didn't know it still existed!) and it worked great. VLC had trouble loading it. Do you have OSX?

[0ThouArtThat0]

yeah downloading real player now, thanks!