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Do the Laws of Nature Exist Independent of the Human Mind?

Sunstone

De Diablo Del Fora
Premium Member
Do the laws of nature exist independent of the human mind? Are they real things that exist in themselves, or are they only human constructs? What do you think? Why?
 

Random

Well-Known Member
I hold that Nature is essentially Lawless. We impute it with varying levels of predictability via our intellectual perception of its cycles and motions, but fundamentally Nature is Anarchy, it is the Unruly, the unbound, the Wild. Its changes are entropic and the order we percieve in it is an illusion born of the interface of chaos and rationality.

Secondly, I hold that the source of Nature's entropy is human beings. WE are the entropic force in Nature, which is why our subsistence is essential for its continuance. You only have to look to the present state of the World to see Man's effect on Nature.

Furthermore, I hold that the reason for all of this is that Reality is a Deterministic simulation, by which I mean the Universe is maintained by the power of the Collective Unconscious of the Human race. We dreamt a dream together and one day it became our shared Consensus Reality and hardened fast to our perceptions of it, with our respective souls/consciousnesses as its operating programs. Reality thus contains Nature, but is not identifiable with it on a supramundane level.

Therefore, as said before, Consciousness is whatever consciousness is conscious OF, so WE ARE NATURE, because we are conscious of it and that is its content. It does NOT, cannot, "exist" @ all independent of Mind. Without entropy, Nature will fail, or transform and become something else, not-nature.
 

Panda

42?
Premium Member
Do the laws of nature exist independent of the human mind? Are they real things that exist in themselves, or are they only human constructs? What do you think? Why?

The laws of physics incorporate the observer into them. When particles are unobserved they have wave like properties.
 

McBell

Unbound
Do the laws of nature exist independent of the human mind?
Yes.
because if humans were not here, they would still work the same.
Actually, I will go out on a limb an suggest that they would likely work better because if human were not here than we would not be interfering with them.


Are they real things that exist in themselves, or are they only human constructs?
I suspect that it depends upon with whom you are speaking.
Since no definition of "Laws of Nature"" has been given...


What do you think? Why?
I think that before we can actually begin an in depth discussion we must first have at least one definition given of "Laws of Nature."
 

Random

Well-Known Member
Yes.
because if humans were not here, they would still work the same.
Actually, I will go out on a limb an suggest that they would likely work better because if human were not here than we would not be interfering with them.

This is contradicted by your final assertion.

I think that before we can actually begin an in depth discussion we must first have at least one definition given of "Laws of Nature"

Lol! Can't wait to see someone try this...
 

Random

Well-Known Member

Well, you asserted that the laws of Nature exist independent of Mind and that in fact Nature would be better off without human beings, whence you latter admitted you lacked a working definition of the "Laws of Nature", thus you were assuming according to you own idea, which is fallacious.

But not to worry, you're forgiven. :)


Mestemia said:
The question is, which one is to be used for this thread?

Sunstone, you're up!
 

McBell

Unbound
No this demonstrates that observation changes the rules.
I stand corrected.
I added 'human' when I should not have.

However, one question I have to ask, did it change the rules or are there rules that we do not yet know/understand?
Meaning, if the rule has always been there and we (meaning people) are ignorant of it, does that equate to the rule being changed?
And how long before the rule is changed to something like "particles will behave in this manner unless being observed, in which case they behave is this other manner"?
 

Panda

42?
Premium Member
I stand corrected.
I added 'human' when I should not have.

However, one question I have to ask, did it change the rules or are there rules that we do not yet know/understand?
Meaning, if the rule has always been there and we (meaning people) are ignorant of it, does that equate to the rule being changed?
And how long before the rule is changed to something like "particles will behave in this manner unless being observed, in which case they behave is this other manner"?

To answer this in terms of Quantum physics is beyond my knowledge. However I would say it is not that we change the rules but that we do not know all of the rules so constantly need to update them to incorporate new findings and theory's.
 

McBell

Unbound
To answer this in terms of Quantum physics is beyond my knowledge. However I would say it is not that we change the rules but that we do not know all of the rules so constantly need to update them to incorporate new findings and theory's.
That is pretty much my position as well.
Both that we incorporate new finding and that answering in terms of Quantum Physics is beyond my knowledge.

So would it stand to reason that the rules are there, regardless of our knowing of them, or our understanding of them, thus concluding that they will work regardless of Human existence?
 

Panda

42?
Premium Member
So would it stand to reason that the rules are there, regardless of our knowing of them, or our understanding of them, thus concluding that they will work regardless of Human existence?

I would says the rules exist regardless of human existence but our knowledge is not yet great enough to fully understand them so they appear to change.
 

Marzipan

New Member
Maybe if we consider some natural law more basic than quantum physics to begin with a foundation for further exploration could be established.

Gravity, for example.

I have a large collection of dinosaur bones dating from before the existence of humanity that suggest, due to the layers of earth from which they were washed out, that gravity did indeed exist long before humans found themselves sticking to the surface of the earth.
 
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