yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

Supervenience


2m read
·Nov 8, 2024

One of the questions was, "Um, how is it that logic supervenes on our brains?"

And I think it's a good question.

Um, I think it's a question that we're not currently in a position to give a full answer to.

Um, for that, our understanding of how the brain and the mind are interrelated needs to be, uh, much more advanced than it currently is.

Um, but I think by way of analogy, I can give you an idea of how, uh, a materialist conception of the mind—how it, how it can, how it approaches this question.

Anyway, so to take the example of a computer, um, we know exactly, uh, the parts that make up a computer, and we know exactly what happens in those parts in order for the computer to do the things it's expected to do.

Ultimately, what happens inside a computer is electrons move around.

That's all it is at a basic level, and yet we're happy to say things like the computer calculates, uh, a sum, an equation, or the computer displays a web page.

And yet we don't feel the need to posit some kind of immaterial entity or immaterial knowledge or symbol or something from another realm that somehow is injected into the computer that enables it to do these things.

We know exactly what's in a computer, what happens in a computer, and we also know that in a manner of speaking, the result is greater than the sum of its parts.

The ability to calculate or to display a web page supervenes on the fundamental activity of electrons in a computer.

And what the materialist worldview says, or at least the version that I'm familiar with, is that in a similar way, the electrical and chemical activity inside the brain gives rise to Consciousness, thought, abstract Concepts, etc.

So logic, as in our internal representation of the most general features of the reality in which we find ourselves, logic in that sense supervenes on the physical.

I hope that makes it a bit clearer.

More Articles

View All
The Brightest Part of a Shadow is in the Middle
Where is the darkest part of a shadow? I mean, the obvious answer seems to be right in the middle. If you look closely at a shadow, as you move the object away from the wall, you notice that the shadow gets a bit fuzzy. So clearly, the edges are lighter. …
How Warren Buffett Made His First $1 Million
So, in this video, we’re going to talk about how Warren Buffett made his first million dollars and what you can learn from it to make yours. Warren Buffett is currently worth $100 billion and built a company that is worth $650 billion. If you’re watching …
Alex Honnold Rappels Into a Ravine | Running Wild With Bear Grylls
[music playing] This is, like, pretty legit. That’s, like, a long ways. I’m pretty pleased you’re saying that. I’m definitely feeling it. I mean, this is 300 feet at least. Ultimately we want to get down into the gorge. Let’s rappel off the bridge? Yeah,…
Urska Srsen
Next up, we have Kka Sersen, who is the co-founder of Bella Beat. Bella Beat helps pregnant women have a healthy pregnancy using the Quantified Self Technologies, and Bella Beat has recently been recognized by Fast Company as one of the most innovative pr…
How Big Is the Universe?
[Music] Have you ever looked up at the night sky and pondered about your very own existence? Maybe you were camping out with some friends or all alone, marveling at the big canvas of darkness plastered with countless glowing stars. Well, you’re not alone.…
The History of Life, I guess
From sharing the Earth with many other human species merely as hunter-gatherers trying to brave the elements to building rockets, creating the internet, and now with our eyes set on Mars, the history of humanity is one that’s filled with determination, co…