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From: gam@proper.UUCP (Gordon Moffett)
Newsgroups: net.philosophy,net.sci,net.misc
Subject: Re: Mind and Brain
Message-ID: <1413@proper.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 27-Jun-84 04:46:58 EDT
Article-I.D.: proper.1413
Posted: Wed Jun 27 04:46:58 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 30-Jun-84 03:38:02 EDT
References: <1396@proper.UUCP>, <856@shark.UUCP>
Organization: Proper UNIX, Oakland, CA
Lines: 33

> From: hutch@shark.UUCP (Stephen Hutchison)
> Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
> 
> I love how Moffett casually dismisses the efforts of those men whose
> lifework was to understand the nature of themselves and reality.
> Who cares that they developed the framework from which our view of
> the world arose.  They are dead Greek persons and their ideas are
> not worthy of any consideration.
> 
> Even better, he dares us to demonstrate the existance of our minds,
> while adequately demonstrating the lack of existance of his own.
> (No :-) for fools like that! Is there a symbol for tears of pity?)

How ad hominem [ a term I've learned from netland! ].  You've not
answered my question.  Those "men whose lifework was to understand
nature" told us that the Sun went around the Earth, that all matter
was made of combinations of Fire, Water, Earth and Air, (or just
Water alone), and other interesting ideas that have since fallen
into disrepute.

Now, I am not offering this as a counter-argument or claiming that
all dead Greeks are wrong.  But I assert that the idea of ``mind''
is an invented one, even if very old, and would like you to examine your
belief in the (possibly mythical) ``mind'' and explain -- even if
to your own satisfaction -- just what that thing is.

And enough cute remarks about the having or lack of ``mind'' on the part
of participants of this discussion.  It contributes nothing.
-- 

Gordon A. Moffett

{ hplabs!nsc, decvax!sun!amd, ihnp4!dual } !proper!gam