(2023-06-15, 11:05 AM)Merle Wrote: Nails are made of metal. Brains are made of complex hydrocarbons.
The key there is that the atoms need to be "arranged in a complex way" in order to have thoughts, such as the arrangement of atoms in brains.
Carbon chemistry is complex, and can make complex things like elephants and elephant brains. Metals, by contrast, make only simple things like crystals, which can all be grouped together to make things like nails, not functioning brains.
Let's not get ahead of ourselves, plenty of time to discuss what we think complexity can and can't do.
So nails and brains are both made of atoms? Are the atoms made of stuff too? None of this stuff is conscious right?
edit: Part of going slow is I don't want to dominate the discussion as I see Laird and others have replied to you as well.
'Historically, we may regard materialism as a system of dogma set up to combat orthodox dogma...Accordingly we find that, as ancient orthodoxies disintegrate, materialism more and more gives way to scepticism.'
- Bertrand Russell
(This post was last modified: 2023-06-15, 03:25 PM by Sciborg_S_Patel. Edited 1 time in total.)
- Bertrand Russell