<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On May 8, 2006, at 11:51 AM, A B wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV>Hi Samantha,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It is equally inappropriate to claim that the idea is "nonsense", unless you have relevant evidence or a counter-argument. However, I agree that there are more pressing matters at this time.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>What do I mean by nonsense? That which is counter to what we already regard as true within the context of our knowledge and which adds nothing of value to our knowledge and does not add to the ability to make sense of our world and which has nothing at all compelling to recommend it is nonsense. Especially when it proclaims at length that it is the most accurate position to hold on the matters under consideration.<DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>- samantha</DIV></DIV><BR><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"> <DIV><BR><B><I>Samantha Atkins <<A href="mailto:sjatkins@mac.com">sjatkins@mac.com</A>></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class="replbq" style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid"><BR>On May 8, 2006, at 6:59 AM, A B wrote:<BR><BR>> Hi John,<BR>><BR>> John wrote:<BR>> "Young? The idea that matter uniquely determines what we are is as <BR>> old as the<BR>> hills, but discoveries in science made about 90 years ago proves <BR>> this can<BR>> not possibly be true."...<BR>><BR>> When I wrote "young", I was referring to this particular (new) <BR>> conclusion which is a mere few weeks old, as far as I can tell. I <BR>> doubt any philosopher from the past has stood before his peers and <BR>> claimed with a straight face: "Though I appear to you to be alive, <BR>> I actually died yesterday."<BR>><BR>> John,<BR>> "...the idea that the you of<BR>> yesterday could be dead and you didn't even know it would have been <BR>> crazy."<BR>><BR>> I've always acknowledged that the idea sounds "crazy". But that <BR>> alone is not solid grounds for dismissing it altogether.<BR><BR><BR>In absence of a convincing argument, which certainly has not been <BR>provided, we have quite sufficient grounds for dismissing these <BR>assertions as nonsense. Can we move on to something productive now?<BR><BR>- samantha<BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>extropy-chat mailing list<BR><A href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</A><BR>http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><P>__________________________________________________<BR>Do You Yahoo!?<BR>Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around <BR><A href="http://mail.yahoo.com">http://mail.yahoo.com</A></P><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">extropy-chat mailing list</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="mailto:extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org">extropy-chat@lists.extropy.org</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat">http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR></BODY></HTML>