Tuesday, January 04, 2005
Yet Another Thought
In the same article noted below psychologist, Nicholas Humphrey replied:
“I believe that human consciousness is a conjuring trick, designed to fool us into thinking we are in the presence of an inexplicable mystery. Who is the conjuror and why is s/he doing it? The conjuror is natural selection, and the purpose has been to bolster human self-confidence and self-importance - so as to increase the value we each place on our own and others' lives.
How does “natural selection” have a “purpose”? Purpose demands intention, and intention implies consciousness. Aristotle would not have seen the difference between this and a God.
The smug self assurance of our scientist-priest class may be less annoying if it was not grounded in such obviously fallacious reasoning.
“I believe that human consciousness is a conjuring trick, designed to fool us into thinking we are in the presence of an inexplicable mystery. Who is the conjuror and why is s/he doing it? The conjuror is natural selection, and the purpose has been to bolster human self-confidence and self-importance - so as to increase the value we each place on our own and others' lives.
How does “natural selection” have a “purpose”? Purpose demands intention, and intention implies consciousness. Aristotle would not have seen the difference between this and a God.
The smug self assurance of our scientist-priest class may be less annoying if it was not grounded in such obviously fallacious reasoning.
