From: dnomhcir@gmx.com   
      
   D  writes:   
      
   > On Tue, 18 Mar 2025, Ed Cryer wrote:   
   >   
   >> I don't doubt that the mind is a product of the brain; and that the   
   >> brain is physical. Nor have I ever seriously doubted that the world   
   >> is physical and real. I'm a naive realist by temperament. I like to   
   >> call myself a "western scientific rationalist".   
   >   
   > Hooray, I'm not alone! ;)   
   >   
   >> All this seems rather unphilosophical. I guess I'm no philosopher. I   
   >> just like talking with intelligent people, and having my mind   
   >> stimulated by interesting speculation. Let the dialogue of reason   
   >> continue. It's the breeding ground of new ideas and change.   
   >   
   > Well, it can be! Discuss with quantum physicists and then discuss if   
   > you should or should not infer things from formulas that can never be   
   > proven or shown evidence or disproven (choose your favourite). Are you   
   > justified in believing the inferences?   
   >   
      
   Have you come across proof by induction? It proves that the sum of the   
   first n numbers is n(n+1)/2, and that's true for any value of n. Now you   
   must say it is nonsense because you cannot test any value of n. You   
   cannot test infinity-1 for example. But I think you will say mathematics   
   is in a separate compartment from physics. In which case I'll say that   
   when you get to the quantum level, all you have is numbers.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)