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Not quite the UF Philosophy Corner | by MatthewDBA | 2009-05-08 07:30:42 |
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Huge difference. | by Peace_man | 2009-05-08 08:21:37 |
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The problem is | by MatthewDBA | 2009-05-08 08:53:04 |
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Is that relevant? | by Peace_man | 2009-05-08 09:00:40 |
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That's exactly the point | by MatthewDBA | 2009-05-08 09:15:10 |
| Yes, that really changes the question. |
by Peace_man |
2009-05-08 09:52:18 |
Now the question is not so much about the difference in experience given certain facts; it is now about how we can know certain facts given a specific experience :-)
And the answer is that we can know very little based on a single experience. However, anything we learn from any experience will be integrated into everything we have experienced before.
If my previous experiences have led me to conceive of a being capable of creating and controlling our Universe, then a certain experience can lead me to believe that I have evidence of such a being. On the other hand, if my previous experiences have led me to conceive of a lesser creator; one capable of creating planets, but not the Universe (with the implication that there is a creator that has created this being), then that same experience could lead me to believe I have experienced such a being. Or that I have experienced a being capable of creating our Universe and other, lesser, creatures capable of creating planets.
In the example where I meet you and you tell me that you have created a program, I form a conception of you as someone who has created a program. Forming this concept has nothing to do with your actually having created a program; it simply means that I have had an experience that leads me to believe certain things about you. With certain caveats, or reliability, of course; I don't believe anything absolutely. That would leave no room for other, contradicting experiences to come later.
What that experience does is setting up conditions for later experiences. Whether those experiences (such as finding out that you have not, in fact, created a program) ever happen will not change the experience of meeting you. |
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