Posts by cofty

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

I'm still not sure if we're talking about information in the sense of data, which does not require an intelligent mind or in the sense of communication which does. - TD

Neither is Sea Breeze which is the problem.

43

if you accuse people of being stuck in jw mindset or "cult-like" mentality simply because someone has a different view of politics than you, you'll be deleted.. it's insulting and a lazy substitute for having any real argument for a proper debate.. what next ... "you smell" ?.

cofty

Actually Morph plagiarized my post from six years ago. I got a lot of flack for it.

Another poster suggested calling "Cofty's Law". Morph waited a few years and tried to resurrect it as his own brilliant idea.

Accusing Ex-JWs of Behaving Like JWs Should be Taboo...

I am seeing it repeatedly on the forum. I think it is cowardly.

Sometimes it is appears in the form of accusing others of behaving like JW elders. To add insult to injury, it is frequently used by some who were never JWs.

Consider what many of us had to go through to get out the cult - what is cost us in terms of family and friends. The intellectual struggles we experienced to get over years of indoctrination. The courage and integrity it took to reject everything we once held dear.

To label somebody who disagrees with you as acting like a JW is a craven personal attack.

There are occasions when it is simply a statement of fact - when somebody preaches end-times speculation for example - but to use it as a cheap shot is unacceptable.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

I have never denied the existence of what SB refers to as ' information'.

My objection is that he is conflating two different senses of the word and misrepresenting the views of people who don't ascribe to theism.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

Maybe we could all agree that none of us know the ultimate answer to the puzzle of why there is something rather than nothing.

The real difference between us is our commitment to limiting our knowledge-claims to things that can be objectively demonstrated. Theists want to make grandiose epistemological claims about reality, based entirely on 'faith'. But when they lose their nerve they want to pretend their assertions are actually rooted in some esoteric field of theoretical physics that they don't begin to understand.

The many things that science has still to discover should not be the places where you try to hide god.

'Information theory' might be a problem for a straw-man who apparently denies the existence of the non-material but it is not a dilemma for the rest of us.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

I have never referred to 'aliens' as a source of life on earth in my entire posting history. Please stop lumping everybody who disagrees with you into the same stereotype.

I have however described the latest research on abiogenesis many times.

You have STILL refused to address your basic confusion regarding the nature of 'information'. Your original sin is equivocation.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

These sort of arguments for God depend entirely on obfuscation and equivocation.

What do you mean by god? You can pretend you only mean some unknown source of 'information' but really you are trying to open the door for the god of Jesus who worries about who we sleep with.

The more difficult it becomes to defend the god of the Bible the more theists want to retreat to the magical world of theoretical physics.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

Waton - creationists use the word 'information' in a dishonest way. They equivocate, knowingly or otherwise.

In the technical sense of information no minds or sentient beings are required.

In one sense DNA contains information but that is nothing but a metaphor. In reality it is just chemicals doing their thing.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

You are ignoring my reply because it gets to the core of your mistake.

The problem is you are equivocating about the word information.

In normal usage it involves one mind communicating data to another sentient being.

Then there is a technical sense if the word that is the subject of information theory.

You are making a category error. Until you address this you are doubling down in a basic error

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

I believe a materialist is one who upholds the credo of science - "If it cannot be measured it does not exist."

I've never encountered a single person who believes that. It is certainly not 'the credo if science'.

70

A Growing Problem for Materialists

by Sea Breeze in

the famous double-slit experiment proves that light travels both in individual particles called photons and also as a mathematical probability wave.

matter itself exhibits this particle-wave duality which allows objects to exist in two different places at the same time, depending on whether of not you are looking (testing) at it.

scientists have recently been able to get molecules as large as 2000 atoms to exhibit this duality!.

cofty

'Information' in this context is a metaphor. You are committing a category error.

Please define what you mean by 'materialists'. If you simply mean that there is no such thing as an omnipotent god holding the strings then count me in.