Contrast that with the arrogance of creating a neural network in your garage and thinking to yourself: “well I guess as a side-effect of this all of existence makes sense now.”
If they do research and this viewpoint works for them then who am I to judge.
I’m more used to this viewpoint being presented when someone who doesn’t work in some area expresses some opinion (hot take) on it. That could be a physicist expressing an opinion on cognitive science e.g. (whatever cognitive science is about).
> Physicalists do continue to do research of the natural world, in fact, that is actually what drives them more toward physicalism!
I don’t understand what physicalism is supposed to be about[1] beyond explicitly denying God-of-the-gaps.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsLOVYTLt90
> I think you are arguing a strawman, since no one said anything about being arrogant.
Just like no one identified themselves as being arrogant because they believe that they are more than physical structures. Or even claimed that they believe that they are more than physical structures. (The reductionists will often barge in an identify anyone who disagrees with their opinion as someone who believes in the supra-physical, based on nothing.)
Seems like your comments are responding to a point in your head without anyone expressing such points. No one here is like the physicist in your example, so I am not even sure against whom you are arguing here.
Again I urge the reductionists[1] to look in the mirror.
> No one here is like the physicist in your example, so I am not even sure against whom you are arguing here.
Unless the original poster is a relevant expert like a biologist[2] the point stands.
You already agreed that it is thought-terminating—and justifiably so. I don’t get why you are still here.
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41054500
[2] Or could range all the way to a psychologist because it’s a pretty broad topic.
And if the point is so narrow as to be about Free Will then I don’t know why people are being coy and talking about input-output machines, washing machines and whatever. Just say that Free Will is not real. Then you get 70% less pushback.
[1] No one here is going to argue for Cartesian Dualism. So the only way that it will come up as a supposedly “live” belief is if someone else accuses them of being a crypto-cartesian because of whatever reasons…