Two alternate approaches: (two papers with opposing viewpoints)
a) Materialists and Non-Materialists are both right - about themselves;
see article below, in section a) titled:
"A Brain's Self-identification..."
b) materialists are right:
see article below in section b), titled:
"The sense of presence during sleep-partalysis as a hint to the biological source of the "illusion" or “level-confusion” underlying the notion of “consciousness” proposed by non-materialists, and proposed experiments to identify this factor".
Avi Rabinowitz Send comments to: air1@nyu.edu
Links to other relevant webpages by the author
Supplementary material (originally removed from the article due to journal word-count-limits);
1998 version of this article; very brief;
2021 expanded survey, and group discussion: (This will be continually updated and edited (on the site);
Sources & quotes: writings by prominent physicists on related topics as background for the survey questions and for the article.
extended excerpts/quotes from source texts mentioned in the article.
Sleep paralysis' sense of presence as the source of the non-materialist consciousness delusion Embedded on this webpage;
"Reality = Universe + Mind? Why consensus re consciousness is impossible": 58 pages;
Related:
“Reality” = “the Universe” + “Consciousness”? What should be the purview of physics & cosmology? ["Physics aspects of Mind article and project etc"] 43 pages;
Physics implications: 10-page article titled: “Reality” = “the Universe” + “Consciousness”? Why there can be no consensus among physicists about what should be the purview of physics & cosmology. Embedded on this webpage.
TOC: with links to sections of this webpage
About the survey:
A survey (brief version & extended version) designed to help respondent brains clarify their positions, and identify unambiguous representatives of the two types, who will be invited to participate in an experiment comparing their relevant wiring/structure and DNA. See link below.
(Note: The extended survey is expanded from the author's 1987 survey regarding free will, the brief version is on the webpage "Correlation Experiment...." accessible via the menu above .)
Embedded below (unfortunately the footnotes did not survive the upload)
Above: http://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/19980/ : the full version of the article is embedded further below.
Split into two papers with opposing viewpoints, a) & b), as referred to above
a) Non-materialist's brains
are associated to what they call "consciousness" but which materialist brains consider an "illusion" or "level/linguistic-confusion" they are happy to be free of.
The article/paper - embedded below as a google doc - is an expanded version of my 1998 article (see link below).
Please use the scroll-bar to the right, or 'pop out' the document by clicking on the arrow icon at the upper right.
Summary: Each type of brain-wiring/structure gives rise to a concommitant understanding of the nature of the universe's deepest reality, that it is either "material" or possesses "non-material consciousness". Thus in effect a brain is uniquely equipped to self-identify/diagnose whether its wiring/structure is materialist-type or non-materialist-type.
ie: Due to the correlation between brain wiring & philosophical position,
a brain's stated 'philosophical stance' can to be understood as an indication or reflection of its DNA coding for brain structure/wiring. However, when the two brain-types are colleagues, they can agree to consider their determination of reality to be just a 'philosophical stance'.
b) Materialists are right:
A biological factor - specifically brain-wiring giving rise to a sense of presence like that experienced during sleep-paralysis - might be source of the "illusion" or “level-confusion” underlying the notion of “consciousness” proposed by non-materialists.
An experiment is proposed to identify it.
Please use the scroll-bar to the right, or 'pop out' the document embessed below by clicking on the arrow icon at the upper right.
Surveys:
Questions & results of the preliminary versions
The initial responses to the two surveys below are part of the learning process - insights gained from the way respondents understood the questions and from the type of answers and correlations are being used to modify the wording and add questions in order both to better capture the intended essence and to help respondents sharpen their own ideas on this topic.
AR (author): Mind-form 1 responses
NY Mind-form 1 responses
.......................................................................................
Section II: Related material
i. Physics implications
10-page article titled:
“Reality” = “the Universe” + “Consciousness”?
Why there can be no consensus among physicists about what should be the purview of physics & cosmology. --->
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EgAetz5HKY_dNL34AqlQtkXv1xlKFeJXs2TOn7hcwL4
Extended survey for physicists: https://sites.google.com/a/nyu.edu/avi-rabinowitz/home/physics-implications.
ii. The reason for the futility
of much of the dialogue & debate about
moral responsibility & free will.
Article --->
[Paper, survey and brain experiment]
https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/anti-materialism/moral-responsibility-free-will
iii. The "Bait & switch" of academic physics study vs "popular physics"
see discussion in the "cover letter" -->
iv. Cover letter
[ https://sites.google.com/a/nyu.edu/avi-rabinowitz/home/cover-letter-for-mind-article.]
Note: This may be re-purposed as a separate article.
v. The author's published 1987 article: "Free Will"
re the acausality underlying: --->
i. the universe's emergence; ii. free will; iii. creativity:
(Some of the content in this article forms part of the new survey.)
[For the original article itself: B'ohrHatorah #6 [English] 1987 (a peer reviewed journal): https://www.jct.ac.il/en/publications/bor-hatorah/bor-hatorah-6#acc7466_10
Note: The googledocs embedded on the website will be continually updated and edited.
This webpage's url is: https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/mindlessmaterialists/home