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 Best and Worst Prediction in Science
How much energy is there in empty space? We believe there is 10 to the minus 8th ergs in every cubic centimeter of empty space. How much is an “erg”? It’s a very small amount. You know, if a mosquito flaps its wings, or a fly I guess flaps its wings, it’s…
You Are Not Alone
Sleep is good, death is better; yet surely never to have been born is best. These lines close a 17th century poem by German writer Hinrich Hine. The piece is titled “Death and his Brother’s Sleep.” It compares these two states, suggesting that we experien…
15 Signs You’re Gonna Make a Lot of Money in the Future
The life of your dreams is ahead of you. You’re here because deep down you can feel that there’s more waiting for you. Everyone gets what they work hard for, and by the end of this video, you should have the confirmation you need that you’re on the right …
ANNOUNCING BRAIN CANDY LIVE
Hey, Vauce! Michael here. I have never made an announcement video, but what a way to start! Adam Savage and I—yes, the Adam Savage—have been working on something delicious and nutritious, and live on stage. We’ve created a show called Brain Candy. You ca…
How to sell private jets to billionaires...
This is a very hectic day in the life of a corporate jet broker. I came into the office at 7:30. I was about to get ready for an important meeting I had at 10:00 when I got a call from George Ganopoulos from Lux Aviation. “You’re kidding! Client, we just…
Koala Encounters
[Applause] I’m out on the Great Ocean Road, and I’ve just spotted my first koala in the wild, uh, since moving to Australia 7 years ago. He’s pretty amazing, uh, looks like he’s just woken up, and he’s a little bit groggy. Um, as you can see, koalas don’…