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Originally Posted by DoctorDick
1) Our understanding of the universe is based on information gained through our senses 8-[ .
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This may not be as straightforward as you imply. Isaac sees an apple fall from a tree. This is a direct sensory input. But his "understanding of the universe" is derived not only from that input, but also from his own... we'll call it "cogitation." His thoughts that are very much necessary to derive the universal law of gravitation are not any of the five senses. Of course, his thoughts are built up from
previous sensory inputs. But I think it's possible to put together such previous inputs in new and novel ways - to transcend the previous inputs, as Isaac apparently did. Humans are not myna birds.
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Originally Posted by DoctorDick
2.) Our senses are preprocessed by our subconscious so as to yield the mental image of reality perceived by our conscious awareness  ..... It seems to me to be undeniable that my perceptions of reality are all illusions created by my subconscious [-( . |
I think use of the word "illusion" carries too much baggage and is therefore misleading. Better would be "Our perceptions are
representations." I am reminded of the painting of a pipe, with the text painted below the pipe saying "This is not a pipe." No, it's not. It's a representation.
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Originally Posted by DoctorDick
3) Reality exists  and there is a serious conundrum here as to how our subconscious has managed to perform this feat #-o . |
Yes, I think reality exists regardless of how (or whether) we perceive it. We perceive a representation of it, which isn't perfect but apparently good enough for survival....
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Originally Posted by DoctorDick
Our mental image of the universe is constructed from data received through mechanisms (our senses) which are also part of that image.
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I'm not sure I'm following you here. Certainly the nature of our sight is determined (or at least affected) by the configuration of the rods and cones of our retinas. Our mental image of the universe is affected by our senses. So, OK, we should remember that when constructing such images.
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Originally Posted by DoctorDick
....we cannot possibly model our senses (the fundamental source of that information) until after we have modeled the universe.... This implies that our subconscious has constructed a mental image of the universe given totally undefined information transcribed by a totally undefined process. What is important here is that the problem is solvable; it has to be solvable as our subconscious mind has solved it.
I believe I have discovered a solution to that very problem and that the solution implies some rather astounding conclusions. Either I am right or I am wrong! All I ask is a little help in determining that issue :P !
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Hope this helps! :P