Today I was exposed to an idea so radical, I was taken aback at the sheer proposal of it; Eliminative Materialism.
In the realm of philosophy, there are two main branches of understanding reality. Dualism is the idea that reality exist in two parts. An example would be the Duality of Mind and Body. What exists in the mind is one thing, and what exist out there in the empirical (perceived by our 5 senses) is completely another. Love, hate, jealousy, feelings and states of mind are examples of the non-empirical reality. By extension, we can say that we have a soul, a kind of spiritual essence that is beyond the body, some kind of consciousness which can transcend the material plane.
The other contender for this is Monism, the idea the reality exist as one complete whole. There are no planes, no dimensions or alternate reality. Reality simply “exist”, the questions is whether we are able to perceive it or not. An example is Materialism, the idea that everything can be reduced to bits and bytes, very essentialist (very reductionalist way of thinking). Our feelings, beliefs, thoughts, “free will”, etc. can be reduced to the electro-magnetic sparks within our brains.
When you are walking along the street, and you see a deep hole, you take a detour. Because you believe that going into the hole is not to your benefit. Hence you heuristically (automatic, passive, short cut brain work) take a detour. Sound very intuitive (common sense) doesn’t it? Also sounds “psychologically” sensible. This is “folk psychology” rationality, seemingly intuitive doesn’t it?
Eliminative Materialism pushes the idea of Materialism to the extreme by saying that not only does ideas about feelings, states of mind and beliefs are wrong, they also do not exist. At this point I was thinking in my head… than what? Proponents of Eliminative Materialism warn that folk psychology is completely useless in explaining things around us. “Common Sense” cannot explain why we need sleep, we know precious little about a “activity” we spend 1/3 of our lives doing. Everything, according to them, should be boiled down to neuro-science, brain study. Even belief, doesn’t exist. It exists of course as a figment of our imagination, like luck, fate, faith, and other states of mind.
Can belief really not exist? After all, if I choose to believe in this mode of thinking, what then am I doing if not believing? One powerful example shown to me was the example of the sun set. Let us say two men are watching a sun set, Copernicus and Ptolemy (www.googleityourself.com). Copernicus would point at the Sun and say, “Oh the sun is passing over us”, and Ptolemy would say “this side of earth is turning away from the light of the sun”. It is not important who is “right” and who is “wrong”. For both where considered truth during their astrological renaissance. The point is that both believed that they were right, and both would theoretically die for what they believe in. Beliefs are real only in their consequences, not real in itself.
Eliminative Materialism is not arguing that the hole doesn’t exist, or that the sun doesn’t exist, there surely is something happening. The point is that the way we rationalize the world using folk psychology is wrong. The reason why the social worlds we live in seem so inconsistent and erratic is the same reason why Copernicus’s Astrological Model was so complicated compared to Ptolemy’s, Copernicus was thinking about it using the wrong cognitive tools, and basing is model on a less accurate assumption, or a premise.
I argue that we should look back at our beliefs, if after all this I still can call my beliefs mine. What simulated my brain to create the imprints which led me to “know” what I know now and today? We should look at it from the perspective of brain science, in receptors and emitters. What you have come to know and believe today is historical (a product of a chain of events and experiences). It's your belief only because you claim it as yours, you did not create something new, any more than a mother creates a new baby from the food she eats. Let us be aware, that the concept (idea) of belief is a transport unit for our distilled experiences. Dont make the mistake of using yesterday's dried paint, to paint tomorrow's landscape (the problem of induction, Hume's problem), it WILL distort your reality. Be aware, thats all.
However, we face the same problem as Copernicus. Hence my answer to the proponents of eliminative materialism is this. We are limited by the technology of our time. Hence, we are stuck with using the scientific equivalent of superstitions to govern our day to day social lives, beliefs, hopes and dreams. Not very different from how once people thought the plague was caused by witches, you can pay for you sins with money, and love can be bought in potion form and other such “out-dated” practices. We here today use narratives, belief systems, hopes, dreams and other such figments of our imagination to rationalize our existence until something better comes along which can literally read your mind and by extension destroy your free will.
Do your believe me?
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