I have a question about the problem of recursion here. If I observe a blue sky and I observe a group of scientific papers claiming that it is green, how much more likely is it that my observation of the sky is what is wrong than that my observation or understanding of the scientific articles are what is wrong?
Yes, exactly. Hallucinations and altered consciousness periods don’t simply mean that your sane and usual rational mind is still there and it simply receives strange visual inputs as if you were enjoying a movie. Sometimes your very own thought processes are disturbed, it’s not like a little rational homunculus can always remain skeptical. So if you then try to think about journals and science, it won’t feel like a better alternative hypothesis. You will be genuinely confused and maybe imagine reading something in a journal that you didn’t, or imagine that some conspiracy is out there and you’re now uncovering it, etc. A real strong hallucination can be very very strong. Some on-the-fence atheists convert to a religion when they have some extreme experience of pleasure and bliss and feel that some miraculous event happened. They will know that religion is true, it will be the first and foremost truth they can imagine. It’s really hard to imagine what it feels like to be someone else. Again, no rational homunculi pulling the string in our heads.
I have a question about the problem of recursion here. If I observe a blue sky and I observe a group of scientific papers claiming that it is green, how much more likely is it that my observation of the sky is what is wrong than that my observation or understanding of the scientific articles are what is wrong?
Yes, exactly. Hallucinations and altered consciousness periods don’t simply mean that your sane and usual rational mind is still there and it simply receives strange visual inputs as if you were enjoying a movie. Sometimes your very own thought processes are disturbed, it’s not like a little rational homunculus can always remain skeptical. So if you then try to think about journals and science, it won’t feel like a better alternative hypothesis. You will be genuinely confused and maybe imagine reading something in a journal that you didn’t, or imagine that some conspiracy is out there and you’re now uncovering it, etc. A real strong hallucination can be very very strong. Some on-the-fence atheists convert to a religion when they have some extreme experience of pleasure and bliss and feel that some miraculous event happened. They will know that religion is true, it will be the first and foremost truth they can imagine. It’s really hard to imagine what it feels like to be someone else. Again, no rational homunculi pulling the string in our heads.