The Dimensions of a Cave

Imagine an existence so bereft of sensation that it couldn’t even be described as “dark,” as no corresponding notion of light had yet been conceived. Imagine a world in which nothing is seen, or heard, or felt, rendering the very idea of being alive little more than a metabolic distinction. Imagine a world of beings lacking even a basic sense of se

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As a philosopher, I think the meaning in our lives is grounded in our consciousness. Human beings are conscious, and this gives us the capacity to invest meaning into the physical world. We can do the same with virtual reality. While an artificial city might not bear the same significance as one’s hometown, virtual worlds will build meaning of thei... See more

This profound problem – the infinite search space for perceptual representation – looms over all other current psychological concerns. We live in a sea of complexity. The boundaries of the objects we manipulate are not simply given by those objects. Every object or situation can be perceived in an infinite number of ways, and each action or event h... See more

Let’s consider the issue of just who I am, and who the new Ray is a little more carefully. Like the water in a stream, my particles are constantly changing, but the pattern that people recognize as Ray has a reasonable level of continuity. After each procedure, I claim to be the same guy. If we talk about consciousness as just a certain type of int... See more