Whaddya Know? Epistemology for Dummies

[dotspace77]

Very interesting and clear, thanks.

[rydhwan]

cool hwip

[TheSteinmetzen]

This is so insightful. Thanks!

[ScalerWave]

"I am the wisest man alive, for I know one thing, and that is that I know nothing."

Socrates

[FantasticBabblings]

@0zyzzyz0 Thanks for your comment. The problem with getting into the academic thinking on the subject is that it easily becomes a quagmire as you so rightly said. That type of exegesis is best written so the reader can go back and re-read and jump back and forth. Not really suited to a video.

The favorite button is now under the "Add to" button. Thanks again.

[The1066Al]

The philosophy of materialism ultimately relies for its validity on strong empiricism: "all knowledge derives from sense perception". Trouble is that that idea does not itself derive from sense perception. Hence the epistemology on which materialism (and therefore atheism) depends is self-refuting. If there is any philosophy which is irrational it is materialism, since matter cannot account for the objective validity of reason, in other words, for 'mind'.

[tiediegoddess]

thank you.

[oiuoiu988]

about the last line in your video, positivism has been used chiefly as a justification for imposing the will of the people in power onto the masses, dont pretend it somehow helps individual freedom.

[oiuoiu988]

and let me just add that your main problem is that youre trying to apply the epistemological underpinnings of PHYSICAL science to social science where it has absolutely no place because it(knowledge of social science) cannot be falsified.

[oiuoiu988]

logical positivism is in direct conflict with logic & reason, it has become a religion unto itself... putting verifiability ahead of logic, reason and philosophical investigation is the calling card of the 20th century religious positivist psuedo-intellectual. you seem to be trapped in about 1987 or so... is it fair to APPLY ANYTHING TO EVERYONE? how does this application take place? the need to apply something to everyone is just vile statist rhetoric and you seem to be a complete dupe.

[moyga]

Thanks for this, I am studying Epistemology at the moment and I really liked that little diagram you made, I'd never seen JTB as K expressed visually like that.

[Triumph919]

you are narrow minded.. i dont like you...

[1SikBR]

Thanks for the effort, and while I agree with most of what you said, the background music is too distracting.

[August1977]

Knowledge is a conclusion derived from a sequential range of conditional suppositions and empirical observations. Quantum physics shows that suppositions (anticipations) can even influence our observation. Reality and knowledge could be a mere product of consensus belief.

[billhuston]

A lot of good stuff here. Thanks for sharing.

In the last statement, "Everyone should be free to believe their own fantasy world", isn't that a judgment, perjorative? By "fantasy world" do you mean "false view?"

Why not just say, "everyone should be free"?

How would you (or anyone) know, a priori, that a particular view was a fantasy or not?

There is another area of possibility which your Venn diagram did not cover. And that is the possibility that all views are true.

[FantasticBabblings]

@billhuston I also stated that I have my own imaginative (fantasy) world, so if I am being pejorative (not perjorative) I am also disparaging myself. This video expresses no judgment of fantasies, just an effort to separate them from evidentiary knowledge.

The diagram is merely an exemplar, not an effort to show the actual proportions of truth and falsity. I'm sure all views are true... in someone's fantasy world.

[billhuston]

What do you mean by "fantasy"?

You claim no bias, yet it is there.

The courts should stick to what is true, right?

People have been imprisoned for being delusional. Isn't that just name-calling and judgement?

I say your claim that "evidentiary knowledge" exists is a fantasy! Please show me some.

If you look deeply here, you will find an unsolvable paradox.

I prefer RAW's term, "reality tunnel". Everyone has their own. This term avoids the possible pejorative :)

[MrKingatheist]

@FantasticBabblings I am confused. Im into ethics, in philosophy. Where does Epistemology fit into ethics. Also where does metaphysics fit into ethics? whats the difference between Epistemology and metaphysics? how do they effect moral theorys in philosophy?

[chucie5]

very good video phil ...deep

[olstrawberries]

Yeah, I hear all that, but sometimes and I do mean only sometimes, in order to fully experience the strangeness and and intensity of art or fantasy or the subconscious, we have to let go completely from this 'skill' you mentioned of separating that which is speculative and that which has been scientifically integrated. We must not let reason abdicate the throne of intuition but maybe they could sit together a while and avoid the pitfalls of extreme ignorance. Science is magic, magic is science.

[BipedalHumanoid]

"Dawkins claims that all religions rely on blind faith"

I find it very difficult to believe that Dawkins, a scientist, would make such a sweeping generalisation. I've read the god delusion many times and have watched/listened to just about every interview he has given since 2006 that is available to me online. he has always made it clear that that kind of generalisation is intellectually indefensible. he still feels the need to explain that 'the root of all evil' was not his title FFS.

[ogirv101]

Atheism is seen as illogical in epistemologial terms. Skepticism is alright and is needed, but extreme recalcitrance passed as skepticism is a threat to Science. Furthermore you started off with knowledge being justification. No, justification isn't knowledge.

[FantasticBabblings]

It depends on your definition of atheism. For me, it means I have no gods; it does not mean I insist that no god exists. Atheists themselves argue and split hairs over the meaning and I have no interest in pursuing that argument.

I did NOT say knowledge is justification. I said it is the result of justification of that which is true and believed.

You either didn't listen or aren't very bright.

[ogirv101]

Oh your brand of Atheism is alot different than what most of the younger Atheists are. I'm surprised to find an ATheist liek you, and no matter how much it hurts me, your belief system is respectable. Furthermore, I probably didn't listen, I just feel like arguing with someone right now, I'm a very contentious person and simple conversations seem banal to me.

[BipedalHumanoid]

The vast majority of atheists I've ever come across do not comply to your assumed definition which is sometimes referred to as 'strong atheism'.

Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, Dennett, Pinker & PZ Myers are not strong atheists. Theists however often come out with strawman arguments against their positions... arguments that only work against strong atheists.

[ogirv101]

All the names you've mentioned do suggest strong atheistic characteristics, for example Dawkins says he's near sure that God doesn't exist and knows for sure religion is wrong (and he makes a strawman argument about the way all religions work and believe.) Dawkins claims that all religions rely on blind faith, that's a strawman argument, and focuses on literal interpretations of scripture to make his arguments, this is absurd and a strawman argument.

[BipedalHumanoid]

'Almost certain' does not imply strong atheism. The strong atheist holds a belief that not gods exist. A weak atheist says there is no evidence to suggest any gods exist and on those grounds I don't believe any do. Weak atheism is a skeptical position.

Dawkins has also said he is an agnostic because you can't be completely certain of anything. He adds, of course, that he is as agnostic about the existence of gods as he is about the existence of the tooth fairy. An important qualifier.

[BipedalHumanoid]

As for your straw man accusations. Absolutely moronic. Because not all of his arguments apply to the particular god you believe in and your particular religion does not make them straw man arguments. There are plenty of fundamentalists out there. The god delusion contains a wide variety of arguments aimed at fundamentalists and more sophistocated believers. To pick out the ones that don't apply to you and claim they are straw men is incredibly dishonest.

[ogirv101]

"A weak atheist says there is no evidence to suggest any gods exist and on those grounds I don't believe any do."

Is that not a negative proof fallacy, just awnser, that's what it sounds like to me. Also Agnosticism and ATheism are not mutually exclusive, but Theism isn't either.

[BipedalHumanoid]

No, because lacking a belief that something does exist is not the same thing as believing that something does not exist.

In order to commit the logical fallacy you'd have to claim that god does not exist. Saying you don't believe in god is simply a claim that you are not convinced that god exists.

[MoseyBurns]

The individualistic approach to epistemology is really creates a scientific impasse because we all know that intrinsic values are in themselves a faith-based reasoning concept. To unilaterially rely on "objective" observation and hypothesis is to rely to heavily one one sided epistemogical understanding of the world around us. It's so simple.

[BunyPunter]

why admit and why not pursue instead? Why submit to unknowing? I tend to be oppositional to barrier.

As for awe I will settle on it being emotion. It is it's own tree, but individuals choose to branch off in their own ways in reaction.

Point taken and put into perspective.

Tnx 8)

[BunyPunter]

To admit not to know and be stuck in awe is the same to assume a supreme being is responsible for it all.However, to reach forth in to the blinding dark of infinity and grasp onto the steps of knowledge is the most divine thing an individual can ever do. Never give up. Never surrender.

[FantasticBabblings]

Until you actually do know something, the only honest thing is to admit you don't. And why be stuck in awe? Awe can be quite fluid and be that which propels you to reach for further knowledge.

[atlone22]

you made a lot of sense.....twas interesting

[Domzdream]

Is that music by John Serrie? What's the name please.

[1000101er]

I think to say that magic doesn't work is pleonastic. That is, incredible things that DO work and ARE repeatable are called technology. Those that do not work and are not repeatable are called magic. In a sense, technology is real magic and 'magic' is fake magic.

[leorcc]

Well presented video, very informative.

[DorothyDandrich]

I thought this was a vlog about

Childbirth in a modern hospital

Am so glad you are not giving instructions on

Childbirth..cause it really is no longer a do it yourself project

[absinthKotek]

I am a new viewer to your channel, but I am so far impressed, I like what you have to say.

[VeiledHeathen]

Nicely put FB, you have a way with words.

[erebus84]

A very nice and kind way to call religions fantasies.

[wildheart5]

I enjoyed this video very much!

[FlingingDust]

You should be a professor, you are certainly logical and intelligent enough to be one.

I love the way you explain your viewpoints, especially this one. Good job!

[cehbeach]

Beautiful! Amazing how such an important concept can be easily grasped when you remove the baggage of jargon. Nice point how it's important and influences the lives of us commoners, vis a vis the law.

[roddack]

This was Fantastic. Thank you for this video!

[cooksterz]

Well i also believe alot of what we consider substance in faith was based on fantasy and tales passed down. There is more, and some of it has to remian undefined. Great vlog!

[ashboxtoo]

Excellent video, thanks very much.

[D4Shawn]

Best video evar FB! This is what YT need more of.

[cambridgee]

What a great video! I guess because I happen to agree with your position. But you communicate the point of view so well. They are indeed fantastic babblings.

thanks for putting your ideas out there for us.

peace.

[dexarouskies]

After taking a whole course in this stuff, it left me damaged life.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

lol

[RDJim]

Whoduh thunk youtube would be used for this? Great bit of video Phil and some deep thinking for sure. Thanks.

[LordLargo37]

I love you to death, Phil. I have learned from you, laughed with your videos, and more. However, this time I couldn't finish. As a believer in God (as I understand it only) and a practitioner a faith, I became very distracted at the begining of the video when you seemed to dismiss faith as an activity for the blind. I am not blind to what faith is, as a practice, an idea, or otherwise. Thanks for the video Phil but I couldn't finish, I will come back to it. Good to see you though. :)

[missdivinestalls]

This was so wonderful and thought provoking.  This debate could go round and round forever but I think the points you made, especially about what we know and why we know it and what system we need to call something known were great.

[MisterWeed]

What a great video! I agree with most of you're statements and you raise interesting questions. It just started a lively, little discussion among me and some friends. There is still so much to be explored...

[mymoosejaw]

Don't you love the idea of specific reality? That is to say everyone views the world different, so reality is different for everyone. This lends to the notion that there is no incorrect way of seeing what is truth. I know all too many people that subscribe to this notion - well ok 2 of them - but that is still too many :)

But it is a way for us all to be correct all the time. LOL

[GayBob08]

Truth, belief, knowledge, it is all relative. What we do know for sure is absolutely very little. More important, what we think we know is all very subjective. If a chair is used for the pupose of changing a lightbulb, does it cease being a chair for the time and become a step-ladder? I really miss doing acid....don't you?

[nbwulf]

Enjoyed it sir...

[Killersepp]

To quote the faboulus webcomic "xkcd":

"...and this is why so many magicians are skeptics."

Seriously though, excellent video. I really like your "explanatory" stuff.

[Castaa]

Hi Phil. It's good see people talking about epistemology on YouTube. It serves a greater good, IMO.

[flufbus]

I think I felt the same way about every thing you had to say.

[LeSaMilano]

Gosh this was a great vlog Phil, much more than a babble, but then you had you clothes on.

I read above where you talk about Johnny Carson and his masterful toying with Uri Geller. Thanks for remiding me of that and also how much I loved Johhny.

[chris3443]

Hope to see more like this.

[FantasticBabblings]

He's right in that it is a theory. But it sounds like he doesn't really know what theory means in science.

[strangeparty]

Historically, much of what has come to be believed, by way of science and reason, has been wrong. In order to believe the concept of confirmable "knowledge", one must believe that science is infallible, which it is not.

[FantasticBabblings]

I agree there is no absolute knowledge. I do think there is a "best effort" level of knowledge which is always subject to revision when better information comes along. Fallible as it is, our best effort knowledge can get us to the moon and back. But, I admit that is a simple problem compared to some of the issues of human relationships, or matters of teleology.

[strangeparty]

I agree. Any sincere, unbiased effort to understand the universe though rigorous, scientific research is an admirable one. What scares me is the influence of the church and state over scientific process and teachings. Who ever would have thought that so-called "intelligent design" (a purely religious concept that defies decades of research) could be taught in public schools, in 2008?

[CaptainRock]

Awsome....Outstanding vid!

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks, Rock.

[jbre2008]

You have a gift , helping old dummings like myself , understand things that are way over our heads . Agre with you or not I understand things I never would . THANK YOU, PLEASE KEEP THEM COMMING

[FantasticBabblings]

You are so kind. Thank you for this and all of your support you have given me.

[ObbiQuiet]

I loved the video.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thank you. Now what is 2 plus 2?

[ObbiQuiet]

It was a video response to another user. He does this segment at the end where he asks you to put your hand on the screen and chant along with him.

I thought it would be fun to record. :P

[FantasticBabblings]

I loved your facial expressions. They had the ring of fake truth about them.

[woosteria]

Very good!

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks for watching.

[achampag]

wow. great vid.

you speak so well

=)

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks. And I remained clothed for this one :)

[achampag]

oh either way phil ;)

i generally like to think of myself as a tiny spec who will never really *know* anything. am down for empiricism though.

[TheStoicAgnostic]

i never know enough i don't believe anything but i consider everything i'm pretty sure human beings are complete idiots in terms of a species they are themselves the biggest threat to their existence anything you can think of will be or happen what you don't think of will happen next there is always something more to know when you know 100%, then you question why like, if there is a creator, what created it i don't even know if i am real i just add to the blather

[TheStoicAgnostic]

logic has axioms

don't front

[FantasticBabblings]

Makes me think of the Beatles' Nowhere Man.

[TheStoicAgnostic]

there is an awful lot to be said for nowhere

still, i see it as everywhere man

[FantasticBabblings]

The irony of nowhere man was he was "a bit like you and me." In essence, everyman.

[TheStoicAgnostic]

kinda like

You don't have to believe in Christ hell to know dick cheney is the anti-christ

maybe not the same but a worthwhile observation

[InReasonWeTrust]

Thanks

[FantasticBabblings]

Thank you.

[xxBetterNowxx]

A fine video, thank you. It takes a sober and thoughtful approach to an emotionally charged issue (for some) and honors the differences at the same time.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks. There has been too much confrontation on this subject.

[DarwinsHamster]

I like the way you use the idea of humility to avoid mystical explanations.

[FantasticBabblings]

Every time I try to vlog about philosophy, I get humbled. You should see some of the tongue-tied crap I cut.

[popebenadict16]

i can almost hear your brain ticking over

[FantasticBabblings]

I think I need a little WD40.

[oneiblind30]

I made it to the end Phil.. Not a lot of ppl can keep me interested that long so good on ya! I believe blue and yellow make green. But I'm not going to impose that on you or anyone else.

[FantasticBabblings]

Just for watching all the way through, next time I see you, you can pluck all the rogue nose hairs you want.

[oneiblind30]

God I'm so turned on... whew! LOL

[huckleberryfilms]

wonderful!

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks, you are kind.

[Minniver]

This was a hypnotizing vlog and I found it fascinating.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thank you. Now that you are hypnotized, until I snap my fingers, start howling every time you see Renetto's head.

Seriously, thank you for watching.

[TheLogicJunkie]

This is a great explanation you've just given.

Long Live Logic.

[FantasticBabblings]

It's a great thing, and more fun than most people give it credit for.

[Barklord]

"We hold these truths to be self-evident."

:)

[FantasticBabblings]

There is one of the complications. How do you justify self-evident truths or axioms? Good think I oversimplified :)

[enslaver]

Great insight, I fear that people who don't subscribe to your point of view will find it hard to understand, or even not want to understand it.

Derren Brown, Houdini, Penn and Teller,all great at debunking while promoting amazing fantasy. I think this difference between fantasy and reality should be made VERY clear to children growing up, not as to harm their imagination, but to grasp reality.

I have to say the background music was quite hypnotizing after a long day.

Rock on.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks for your support. And thanks for turning me on to Derren Brown. I had not heard of him. I will keep an eye out.

[OneoftheImmortals]

You can add "The Amazing (James) Randi" to your list. He helped Johnny Carson debunk Uri Geller. He wants to believe but all the world-renowned people he investigated turned out to be charlatans. His quest to find the real deal still continues.

[FantasticBabblings]

Bravo to James Randi. And to Johnny Carson, whom I miss deeply. Carson was quite intelligent himself, and the way he played Uri Geller on that show was masterful and brilliant. I can't put a link here, but if you search (Uri Geller Johnny Carson) the video is on YouTube and it is priceless.

[OneoftheImmortals]

Found it:

youtube. com/watch?v=M9w7jHYriFo

[Zeev]

Awesome.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Here's something that's true that no one else knows but me in < 500 words. This'll be a two parter.

Was editing a video in Manhattan. Had just enough money to buy a pack of Newport 100's. I took a break, went to the store and bought it. Opened the pack, took one out, put it in my pocket. I'm smoking, staring at a crippled woman inching her off the curb toward the back of a bus with a walker.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

pt 2: I imagine what she must feel like, how great it would be if I could just will her to be better. I feel something drop out of my pocket. I look down and bend to find a full pack of NP 100's at my feet, open on the floor. I put it "back" in my pocket. The pack I just bought was already in there. And why wasn't there a cigarette missing? I told the women I was editing with about it. She didn't know what to make of it and continued editing. Can't say anything quite as mysterious happened b4.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Ok, so it's a three parter:

Is this true? Believed? No one was around me. Never saw a ghost or any hocus pocus stuff before. I don't even believe in ghosts. Not til I see one. Don't hear voices. None of that delusional crap. That's exactly what happened and as many times as I play it over in my head, I will never understand. Or maybe I will.

[FantasticBabblings]

Well, it isn't exactly Plato's Cave, but a good story nonetheless :) I don't know what happened. You were distracted by the crippled woman, so there is possibly some detail you missed. Our perceptions are not always reliable. Misdirection is the main tool of the slight of hand artist. It may also have something to do with smoking those skanky old Newports.

[OneoftheImmortals]

Ockham's Razor:

"All other things being equal, the simplest solution is the best." --Transliterated, Paraphrased and Attributed to Franciscan Friar William of Ockham

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Possibly some detail, Phil. I just know I was ass broke and if I already had a pack I'd know. No hole in my coat. There are other things that happened in my life, but those are more based on emotional, high coincidence situations. This was more a physical incident.

You know I'm not lying. Being totally honest. That's my beef with the world, all this deluded, closet-case shit. It bugs me. As long as you know I'm not stretching any truth. No point I'm trying to make. No attention seeking, etc.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Another story. Met someone at camp upstate. Now this camp is HUGE. Staff hired from all over the world. In LOVE with him. Knew nothing about him, had little correspondence with him. A few weeks after camp, about a week after 9/11, I'm walking with my friend from Australia to Port Authority. We came out of TGIF, I stop at the corner, turn to the right, and there he was, crossing the street toward me. I trembled in my sneakers. Still can't believe it to this day. He's from London/South Africa.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Point is, it happened. We stopped and spoke. My friend Andrew was there. I know I'm not crazy. Times Square. Crowded as hell. How I just stopped in my tracks and turned my head to the right with Andrew's huge backpack on me. Why do I doubt it? It happened. He asked us if we ate, and I said yes. I kick myself in the ass for not saying no. Was I broke or something? I should've ate AGAIN! It's years later and I'm devestated nothing happened between us. We kept in touch for four years after.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

That's funny, Immortal, the simplest solution is that it came out of nowhere.

[OneoftheImmortals]

DlVlNATl0Nx, not nowhere. Reread FF's response. Phil felt that perhaps a pickpocket or his shill used their cigarettes, which happened to be the same brand as yours, as a diversion. You should seek the simplest solution to what really transpired.

As for your friend from London/South Africa walking down the street in NY, things such as that happens to everyone I know; it is a common occurrence.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

I reread Phil's comment. What comes to mind is this:

I would like to know what he thinks about someone he knew that died in the hospital, and that person's cat died the same day at home? Am I remembering correctly that story you shared, Phil? :)

[FantasticBabblings]

What comes to mind was that it was an interesting coincidence. Both were old and quite frail. Jimmy Stewart died just a couple of months after his wife Gloria. He was old and frail, but the heartache of her absence probably accelerated it. I find these things interesting coincidences, but there are reasonable explanations. And even if I don't have an explanation for something, the answer becomes I don't know.

[FantasticBabblings]

Not exactly. The diversion was the crippled lady, and I don't suggest that it was a deliberate trick to distract, it was just a distraction. Mentioning slight of hand implied something I wasn't trying to imply. But even an accidental distraction functions the same. You may miss details of something when distracted.

As for running into the friend, I agree that kind of thing happens. It doesn't seem unique to me.

[OneoftheImmortals]

DlVlNATl0Nx, not nowhere. Reread FF's response. Phil felt that perhaps a pickpocket or his shill used their cigarettes, which happened to be the same brand as yours, as a diversion. You should seek the simplest solution to what really transpired.

As for your friend from London/South Africa walking down the street in NY, things such as that happens to everyone I know; it is a common occurrence.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

Did you miss the part where I said "no one was around me?"

The point is, if any, that truth vs. belief isn't always simple. I don't have witnesses, but doesn't change the fact that it happened.

Also, I totally get what Phil is saying, but all this came to mind. I was working on my contribution to the video we were editing "Judgment Day" about how "things are never the same" and that catastrophes don't always mean the end is near. So you have a person thinking like Phil, but this happens.

[FantasticBabblings]

I agree that it isn't simple. I made it clear up front that I was oversimplifying epistemology. And I made it clear that justification was complicated and imperfect. Knowledge is never absolute. I suspect there is a logical explanation of the Newport incident, I just don't know it.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

If it's so common, it never happened to me b4 or since. Someone I liked, and (would now say I love though it's gone nowhere) of all people. I didn't just bump into him. I stopped and looked...... he was coming from aaaaaall the way across the street.

Well, I'm no theist. The philosophy that religion is [supposed] to be based on is interesting. That's about it. We don't know everything, that's a fact. I do know that atheists tend to be very unemotional. Emotions were real last time I checked.

[FantasticBabblings]

In New York? The odds are greatly increased. It has happened to me a few times.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

That's cool. So long as you believed me, that's all I care about. lol

[OneoftheImmortals]

I do not know why you would think someone would not believe your story. Look for the most logical answer. When I said simple, I did not mean the answer was simple, just the most logical. If it were Sherlock Holmes using deductive reasoning, it may be very simple and elementary. It is all a mater of perspective. Do not take that leap of faith before exploring reality.

[OneoftheImmortals]

Correction:

Switch the word "reality" with "logic."

[FantasticBabblings]

I believe you.

[OneoftheImmortals]

When I, or my mom, want to run into our old friends and acquaintances from decades past, we simply go to Aventura Mall in North Miami during Easter and Passover Holiday Season. We make it happen. Serendipity iii, Tavern on the Green, Movie Theatres, Night Clubs and Opening Nights also work for me. There are common haunting grounds for the living all over the planet. You never know whom you will meet at Jury Duty. It's a very small world.

[OneoftheImmortals]

BTW, none of these people do we know from Florida.

[DlVlNATl0Nx]

I explored the logical reason for it. Over, and over and over and over in my mind. It's like you didn't read what I said Mr. Immortal. lol

All I can do is see the beauty in it all and move on.

[OneoftheImmortals]

DlVlNATl0Nx, you made me laugh. I remember when Bobby Brown said to the Dalai Lama, "Mr. Lama, Mr. Lama, I'm Whitney Houston's husband."

DlVlNATl0Nx, you may call me "Your Majesty."

[DameEdithDivine]

You are brilliant, I think, in the way you are able to clearify ponderous, arcane subjects with fluidity and reason. I had never difined "public" life as opposed to our speculative "private" life. You've opened my eyes in this way. Thank you, it helps me put into words what I've always believed.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thanks Valerie. That means a lot. I wasn't sure how clear I was being. I edited a lot as I babbled for about 25 minutes rather incoherently. If the result has any clarity, I am grateful.

[TamHickey67]

I just read the other day that 80% of Americans believe in god. That has to lead to the question why? I tend to think that a lot of this is political. "know your place and return to ceasar that which is caesars" spring to mind. The UK generally is a much less spiritual country and is more liberated because of that.

[FantasticBabblings]

I think if you start asking specific questions about god, you will find almost as many answers as there are people. So, what is it they really believe in?

[OneoftheImmortals]

You are very refreshing.

I am of the group that believes human beings are comparable to amebas when it comes to fully understanding the cosmology of the universe.

My knowledge tells me we are moments away from wiping the human race off the planet. Another species, perhaps the creatures that thrive next to "Black Smokers" located on the deepest parts of the Pacific Ocean's floor, will have to evolve to figure it all out . . . if there is enough time.

I want to be proven wrong.

[FantasticBabblings]

I think we are eventually headed towards extinction. Most species are. Who knows what will come after us. I wish them better luck. That notwithstanding, I am having a great time.

[OneoftheImmortals]

I love your outlook! I want it. I want it to posses me.

[NathanSt]

oh shizzola

FB whipping out the philosophy =D

[FantasticBabblings]

To quote Michael, "I whip it out whenever I can."

[ZAPH0DBEEBLEBROX]

Truly a fantastic babbling.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thank you.

[stellawashere]

Another interesting video....I'm glad you approached it in a 'simplistic way'....seeing as I'm simple:-)

[FantasticBabblings]

And if I had tried to approach it in a complex way, I would have risked exposing more of my own ignorance.

[rafter23bingo]

"let everybody be free to explore their own fantasy worlds, without imposing it on everyone else"

awesome words

[hartnell114]

id have said knowlage is fact,or factual.

someone once said, supernatural events are merely things science cannot yet explain, i agree with this :)

why so philosophical on life, lifes here,live it! hehe, dont worry about its meanings :D

the meaning of unknown changes constantly, its a word that defines itself as unsolvable :)

remember Wilde :)

[FantasticBabblings]

If you say knowledge is fact, you still have the same problem. How do you justify fact?

[hartnell114]

urm i would define fact by saying it is a statement that can be proven undeniably, continuiously (cant spell that)and without fail, how would i justify fact?...i wouldn't?

[1938superman]

I don't know anyone else out here who I come to watch their videos and see a 10+ minute video waiting and it makes me even me even more anxious to watch it. You sir, from where I stand, are a remarkably intelligent man and I appreciate what you do. Thank you. :-)

[FantasticBabblings]

You're very kind, Andrew.

[AJ78910]

cool

[FantasticBabblings]

;-)

[devikkyrn]

Very well done! I've never really looked into epistemology, so this video was both entertaining and educational for me. Thanks for making this video!

[FantasticBabblings]

I oversimplified it for the video (and also to make it easier for me to understand).

[silentfades]

Though I respectfully disagree with you I admit you are a brilliant gifted man.

Marc in NYC

[stellawashere]

I feel honoured to have met him:-)

[FantasticBabblings]

The honour is all mine :)

[Imsoooconfused]

I know black is a good color on you.

[hartnell114]

bamboozled?

[Imsoooconfused]

I believe red is a nice color on you.

[FantasticBabblings]

Thank you. I always feel good in red. It makes me feel a bit like Nancy Reagan.