owl of Minerva wrote: ↑Tue Dec 28, 2021 6:36 pm
I do not have an opinion or assume in relation to Kant’s faith. I go with what the consensus is as I do when I do not personally know, or as applies to disciplines I have neither trained for nor work within I also go with the general consensus on the topic. I will review what you referenced but the consensus still stands and likely will in my view.
After extensive research on Kant, I noted the majority who commented on Kant have had the wrong view of his major theories. For example, most view Kant's Morality & Ethics as a deontological, but fundamentally it is not.
When you have the time, hope you will read Kant's
Religion Within the Bounds of Bare Reason
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_ ... are_Reason
The onus is on you to let me know if what Rovelli plainly said is taken out of context in my assessment of it.
It is not a critical issue to me at present.
Will do that when I happen to refresh on that video again.
My opinion of The Human Conectome Project has not changed and will not change. I am not influenced by a perspective on what it means to be human that makes it the equivalent of understanding a computer program. And not even that, focusing on the hardware; the brain while ignoring, or denying, the software: identity, agency, mind; perceptual and conceptual, all underlaid by consciousness.
You seem to get it wrong.
Neuro-anatomy has already covered almost everything that is to know about the 'hardware' contents of the brain.
The Human Connectome Project is more about the neural-connections' linkage with human activities and thus ultimately the critical concern is with the software [the neural algorithm], i.e. including how consciousness came about within the human brain.
The human brain crudely operate like a computer but it is more sophisticated than that. If it is almost like a computer, scientists would have created artificial human brains, but that is not the case.
Dysfunctions are helped by Cognitive Psychology that involves changing the thoughts when a compulsion or fear arises. If the Project can treat anomalies mild or severe, alleviate the suffering if severe, if mild, return the person to normal functioning that is a plus. In relation to the normal person it has no other role to play. This view is based on the reductionist and just plain wrong perspective of the quote: “You are your connections.”
In relation to the "normal" person the HCP can contribute to expeditiously raise the various quotients of the average person in
future generations [not possible at present], e.g. IQ. Moral Quotient, Wisdom, scientific, mathematics, rationality etc. Obviously such moves must be done voluntarily and within fool proofs [no possible evil elements] process.
Big Pharma is probably watching this Project, salivating in the wings, as with government sanction they may have a role to play and anticipate a big pay day. Once the anomalies are known and matched with the areas they emerge from, there must be a tablet or pill for that.
Normally when there is something new everyone will be looking for opportunities to exploit for good, bad or ugly interests.
But in the above development, the wisdom, rationality and intelligence, etc. quotient of the majority will be raised simultaneously, thus there is much less room for any big exploiter to commit their evil 'crime'.
Btw, even at present with minimal knowledge of the brain, there are already 'smart' pills to make one smarter.
The concept of neuroenhancement and the use of substances to improve cognitive functioning in healthy individuals is certainly not a new one.
In fact, one of the first cognitive enhancement drugs, Piracetam, was developed over fifty years ago by psychologist and chemist C.C. Giurgea.2 Although he did not know the exact mechanism, Giurgea believed the drug boosted brain power and so began his exploration into "smart pills", or nootropics, a term he coined from the Greek nous, meaning "mind," and trepein, meaning "to bend.
https://www.verywellmind.com/can-smart- ... er-4164623
However I believe the above may have side-effects.
But with the HCP the side effects can be reduced or avoided.
In contrast “As a man thinks in his heart” so is he or “Thought is act in fancy.” Is intelligence. Perception, heart, sends a signal to the brain, the cognitive center evaluates it and with heart and brain alignment action is taken or not. Will plays a role here, it is not just processing mindlessly due to neurons firing or chemical interactions; there is agency. The second quote highlights that thought is action and the lapse between the event and the processing may be viewed by neuroscience as choice being made by the processing.
Re 'agency' that has to be the self or individual self?
But the state of the self is conditioned upon the neural connectivities.
For example in the case of severe dementia, Alzheimer's disease or
Coma the sense of self can be lost.
Thus a sense of self or agency is conditioned upon the specific neural connections in the human brain.
Note the view of Kant, Hume, Parfit on the self.
According to Hume, the self is merely a bundle of activities, which in modern term is grounded primary to the neural activities and that of the body, heart, etc.
If otherwise, are you alluding there is agency as in the case of an independent soul that can survive physical death with consciousness intact?
What can be said about all of this, if a relative joined a cult the strategy for an intervention could be assessed in a family gathering. In the case of the mindlessness, no pun intended, of brain science people have to assess what makes sense and what does not. No one else can do it for them.
The fundamental is philosophy-proper.
Regardless of brain science people or whoever, their resultant activities re the HCP must be empirically and philosophically sound which has to take into account moral and ethical considerations.
With the HCP, the inherent moral function within the average person can be made more active in future that the current state.
Note the positive trend of humanity attitude towards chattel slavery since 10,000 years ago compared the present [2021] where chattel slavery is illegal is all sovereign nations. With the HCP there is potential to expedite the moral quotient of the average person to counter all sort of other evil impulses.
As with the evil of slavery, all other inherent evil impulses will be inhibited and modulated with the potentials from the HCP and elsewhere in the future [not present].