[extropy-chat] Avoid Too Much Change

[Brent Allsop]

Lee Corbin wrote:
>   
>> <snip>
>>
>> Anyway, I'm willing to bet anyone that this theory [of qualia] will be
>> commonly accepted as fact in 10 or so years...
>>     
>
> Weren't you saying that seven years ago?  :-)
>   

Yes, but back then I was saying about 20 or so years from then.  We've 
made much progress since then so I feel a little more confident reducing 
the time I think it will take.  We are now stimulating the visual cortex 
of blind people and producing spots of phenomenal light people are 
consciously aware of, and stimulating the auditory areas of the brain in 
a way that can make them consciously aware of sound qualia.  This is 
almost precisely the kind of effing I have always been talking about.  
As in they stimulate the properly configured brain in a particular way, 
saying this is what salt tastes like, and the person that has never 
known what salt tastes like will finally say something like: "Oh That is 
what salt tastes like."  With only a little more progress along these 
lines such theories will finally be proved or disproved very soon now 
don't you think?

> No one hopes more than I do that you Mormons were exactly
> right all along.

Be careful about classifying me with "you Mormons" since I believe many 
things very different than most "Mormons" such as I believe our spirits 
do not rise from our bodies when we die to be greeted by the spirits of 
our already dead ancestors and or Brigham Young.  I believe Joseph Smith 
was a liar (but still did some good).  There is no God yet, nor was some 
Sacrifice by some dude named Jesus significant the way they claim.  
People will not be split up and isolated into "3 degrees of glory" in 
heaven and I believe other worship and wallow in misery things like that 
are not true.  But other than a few things like that, they have lots of 
good beliefs and a great culture which I do share - especially the one 
where they believe man can become God.

Brent Allsop


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