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Topic: Brain in a vat theory

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	Brains in a Vat (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
		The skeptical hypothesis that one is a brain in a vat with systematically delusory experience is modelled on the Cartesian Evil Genius hypothesis, according to which one is a victim of thoroughgoing error induced by a God-like deceiver.
		This brain is connected to a supercomputer whose program produces electrical impulses that stimulate the brain in just the way that normal brains are stimulated as a result of perceiving external objects in the normal way.
		Imagine that you are a brain in a vat in a world in which the only objects are brains, a vat, and a laboratory containing supercomputers that stimulate the envatted brains.
	plato.stanford.edu /entries/brain-vat (4359 words)

	Brain-in-a-vat - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		It is drawn from the idea, common to many science fiction stories, that a mad scientist might remove a person's brain from their body to suspension in a vat of life-sustaining liquid, and connect its neurons by wires to a supercomputer which would provide it with electrical impulses identical to those the brain normally receives.
		This refutation of the vat theory is a consequence of his endorsement of, at that time, the causal theory of reference.
		Putnam contends that by "brain" and "vat" the brain in a vat must be referring not to things in "our" world but to elements of its own "virtual world"; and it is clearly not a brain in a vat in that sense.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Brain-in-a-vat_theory (952 words)

	Encyclopedia: Hilary Putnam (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		He argues that you cannot coherently state that you are a Brain in a Vat placed there by a Mad Scientist (an old science fiction cliche, as seen in The Matrix, and also an allusion to Descartes' Dieu trompeur).
		This is a form of Externalism: where the meaning of a word or concept resides outside of it, and is not inherent in the word/concept (as in Internalism).
		Philosopher Olaf L MÃ¼ller's elaboration of the Brain in a Vat argument
	www.nationmaster.com /encyclopedia/Hilary-Putnam (1999 words)

	CAE5
		The brain in the vat in the laboratory is stimulated by attendant neuroscientists, it is said, so that the visual cortex and so on carries on in such a way that there is experience or awareness as in ordinary experiencing of, say, Wenceslas Square.
		It is that in ordinary perceptual consciousness, as in the case of the brain in a vat, there is a neural process that is causally or in some other way nomically sufficient for the consciousness.
		It is that it follows from the theory that the business of ordinary neuroscience is the discovery and understanding of neural correlates of consciousness in two senses: correlates that are necessary conditions and correlates that are sufficient or necessitating conditions.
	www.ucl.ac.uk /~uctytho/CAE5.html (8308 words)

	David Chalmers - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		David Chalmers has compiled what could be the largest bibliography on the philosophy of mind and related fields with close to 5000 annotated entries topically organized.
		Chalmers has given talks on The Matrix, and supports a large part of the brain in a vat theory.
		He feels however that this theory is not a skeptical theory.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/David_Chalmers (418 words)

	Putnam on Brains in a vat
		Instead of having just one brain in a vat, we could imagine that all human beings (perhaps all sentient beings) are brains in a vat (or nervous systems in a vat in case some beings with just a minimal nervous system already count as 'sentient').
		In short, the brains in a vat are not thinking about real trees when they think 'there is a tree in front of me' because there is nothing by virtue of which their thought 'tree' represents actual trees.
		These theories are not ruled out by what was just said, for there is a close causal connection between the use of the word 'tree' in vat-English and the presence of trees in the image, the presence of electronic impulses of a certain kind, and the presence of certain features in the machine's program.
	www.uwichill.edu.bb /bnccde/ph29a/putnam.html (6487 words)

	MIRROR NEURONS AND THE BRAIN IN A VAT By V.S. Ramachandran
		With this knowledge, it would be possible for a neuroscientist to isolate your brain in a vat of nutrients and keep it alive and healthy indefinitely.
		We are all slowly and imperceptibly approaching the brain in the vat scenario where all functions will be literally at your fingertips as you become dissolved in cyberspace.
		After all your actual brain atoms and molecules get replaced every few months yet you wouldn't want to insist you are existentially reborn each time and stop planning for what (in such a view) would essentially be an identical twin in the future.
	www.edge.org /3rd_culture/ramachandran06/ramachandran06_index.html (4052 words)

	The New York Review of Books: The Myth of the Computer
		The Irrelevance of the Neurophysiology of the Brain.
		The details of how the brain works are immensely complicated and largely unknown, but some of the general principles of the relations between brain functioning and computer programs can be stated quite simply.
		So in that trivial sense brains, like everything else, are digital computers.) And it also follows that if you wanted to build a machine to produce mental states, a thinking machine, you couldn't do it solely in virtue of the fact that your machine ran a certain kind of computer program.
	www.nybooks.com /articles/6628 (3766 words)

	ipedia.com: Brain-in-a-vat Article (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		In epistemology, the brain-in-a-vat thought experiment countenances the notion that you are actually just a disembodied brain in some sort of suspension, attached by wires to a supercomputer that provides electrical input that simulates the existence of a real world, and responds to the brain's output in an appropriate way--a sort of simulated reality.
		That we are brains in vats is never seriously contended, but rather offered as an argument for philosophical skepticism toward empiricism.
		The status of the human race in the movie, The Matrix, is a reference to the brain-in-a-vat theory, though in that case entire bodies were preserved, rather than just the brains.
	www.ipedia.com /brain_in_a_vat.html (245 words)

	Confirmation Theory
		Empirically equivalent theories not equally confirmed: If e confirms h and h is empirically equivalent to h, there is no suggestion on my theory that h has to be equally confirmed, or even confirmed at all; for if h explains e, it doesn't follow that h also explains e, even though h might predict e.
		I intend for my theory to satisfy the consequence condition but not the prediction condition: once you have confirmed a hypothesis by inference to the best explanation, you are licensed in deducing consequences from it, which are indirectly confirmed.
		In the kinetic theory of heat, the molecules on the left are moving faster, on average, than the ones on the right.
	home.sprynet.com /~owl1/confirma.htm (11865 words)

	k-punk: BRAINS, VATS AND MATRICES
		Well, as I once remarked, what is interesting about the brain in the vat theory is the vat not the brain.
		Contrary to certain Cartesian readings (which would suggest that subjectivity is what is most real), the brain in the vat theory implies that subjectivity is a machinic function.
		As Mark says, it's the vat which is interesting, and the potential for creativity, etc. is a lot higher in the matrix than Zion and it's surroundings.
	k-punk.abstractdynamics.org /archives/000853.html (823 words)

	Take a BrainSip
		Putnam has also made an argument that is regarded by some as a refutation of skepticism known as the Brain in a Vat argument.
		He argues that you cannot coherently state that you are a Brain in a Vat placed there by a Mad Scientist (an old science fiction cliche, as seen in The Matrix, and also an allusion to Descartes' Dieu trompeur).
		So, if, as a Brain in a Vat, you say "I'm a Brain in a Vat", you actually mean to say "I'm a vat-Brain in a vat-Vat", which is incoherent.
	hilary-putnam.brainsip.com (824 words)

	The “Brain in a Vat” Argument [Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy]
		The Brain in a Vat scenario is just an illustration of this kind of global skepticism: it depicts a situation where all our beliefs about the world would presumably be false, even though they are well justified.
		The thought-experiment stipulates that brains in a vat would have qualitatively identical thoughts to those unenvatted; or at least they have the same “notional world.” The difference is that in the vat-world, there are no external objects.
		One immediate problem is determining the truth-conditions for “we are brains in a vat” on the assumption we are brains in a vat, speaking a variation of English (call it Vatese).
	www.iep.utm.edu /b/brainvat.htm (4689 words)

	Stupid Evil Bastard: Brain-in-a-Vat and the Existence of God (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		The human is not a brain in a vat, and therefore the sentence is untrue.
		While I don’t see this theory progressing toward proving the non-existence of God, I do see it as validation of why it is so difficult to convince a believer of her relative non-existence.
		The creators of the brain in the vat theory have already made the assumption that true knowledge can not be had.
	stupidevilbastard.com /index/seb/comments/brain_in_a_vat_and_the_existence_of_god (8931 words)

	TSC: Abstracts: Ted Honderich (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		The first theory, unlike the other two, satisfies criteria for an adequate account of consciousness.
		The theory of consciousness as existence is not open to the objection of the deluded brain in a vat.
		It may be that we should carry forward several theories of consciousness.
	www.cts.cuni.cz /tsc2003/abstracts/honderich.html (183 words)

	[No title]
		On Twin Earth, a brain in a vat is at the wheel of a runaway trolley.
		The Brain in a Vat scenario was responded to by Hilary Putnam to promote his version of the argument for the claim that radical skepticism has to be false.
		A brain in a vat which was causally hooked up to receive the same inputs it would have received if it had been in a body would, ex hypothesi the radical skeptic's theory, believe the same things we believe.
	www.mindspring.com /~mfpatton/binvat.htm (1966 words)

	The Matrix as Metaphysics (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		A brain in a vat is not massively deluded (at least if it has always been in the vat).
		Objection 1: A brain in a vat may think it is outside walking in the sun, when in fact it is alone in a dark room.
		For my hypothesis "I am a brain in a vat" to be true, I would have to be a brain of the sort that exists in the perceived world, but that cannot be the case.
	consc.net /papers/matrix.html (15775 words)

	Universal Baseball Blog, Inc.
		Brain is just a brain in a vat whose senses are manipulated in such a way that he always thinks he's doing whatever Bryan is doing.
		When Bryan eats an orange, both Bryan and Brain have the sensation of eating an orange and both think they know that they are eating an orange.
		Brain is not correct because he is not eating an orange.
	universalblog.blogspot.com /2003_11_16_universalblog_archive.html (5929 words)

	Online Papers in Philosophy (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-05)
		Theories of psychological categories have all conformed to the thesis that for every psychological category, there is a final criterion that is the ultimate arbiter of category membership.
		A key achievement of the founders of quantum theory was to forge a rationally coherent and pragmatically useful linkage between the two kinds of descriptions that jointly comprise the foundation of science.
		Indeed, Sherratt argues that Adorno’s critical theory is teleological precisely because he believes that the subterranean flow of history courses towards an aim that is simultaneously “unrealised and unrealisable.” This new Erewhon is enlightenment (44), or “the ‘good’ society governed by genuine reason” (19).
	philosophypapers.blogspot.com /2003_04_01_philosophypapers_archive.html (11247 words)

	:: NextWave ::
		You ask, "if you cannot be sure that you aren't a brain in a vat, how can you have any certain knowledge at all?" The answer, which i am inclined to think you knew all along, is through faith.
		In the hypothetical situation that you ARE a brain in a vat, the reflection and the mirror would both be fake.
		Again, in the hypothetical situtation that you ARE a brain in a vat, just because you say you are not, does not mean you are what you see in the mirror.
	www.nextwavefaithful.com /forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=790 (1863 words)

	Wired News: I Think, Therefore I Communicate
		The goal of all BCI research is to create a direct link between computers and the electrical signals in the brain of these so-called "locked in" individuals so they can operate devices like wheelchairs or use simple word processing programs to express their wishes.
		While the EEG monitors brain activity, so a person's intent could in theory be understood, the issues that have to be resolved before anything resembling thought recognition can happen are monumental.
		The skull muffles much of the brain activity, and since everything a person is thinking, doing, seeing and hearing -- from eye blinks to muscle movements -- is encoded into the EEG signals, the number of variables researchers have to cope with is considerable.
	www.wired.com /news/medtech/0,1286,59737,00.html (838 words)

	brain in a vat - emanations - matt carter: Sony Sell Qualia
		For instance, there is something it is like to experience the colour red, or to listen to a Beethoven symphony, or to be in love, or in pain, or both.
		Accounting for this what-it’s-like-ness of mental states is a challenge that any theory of mind must meet.
		Though most of Sony’s early Qualia products are meant to be used in the home rather than in public, many of the products in the works are meant to be portable.
	emanations.braininavat.net /archives/000051.html (475 words)

	brain in a vat - matt carter's webspace
		brain in a vat - matt carter's webspace
		It’s surely criminally negligent that she was given eronneous medical advice and that at no time was she provided with, or enjoined to seek, medical attention.
		The pain she was feeling was her brain swelling against her skull as she’d ingested seven and a half litres (two gallons) of water.
	braininavat.net /weblog/index.htm (1056 words)

	Brainstorms: Micah Sparacio: Metaphysical Considerations for External World Skepticism
		I conclude with a dilemma: either contemporary physical theories should leave us skeptical about our knowledge of the macro physical world or external world skepticism is philosophically benign.
		The real issue, then, is whether we have already reached this point, for instance with quantum physics or supernatural events (assuming one believes in either), but we prefer to just keep fooling ourselves, and refuse to draw the necessary, if unpleasant, conclusions.
		Somewhere in the dim past I remember reading a science fiction short story in which the protagonist is a psychologist who got interested in the roots of humor.
	www.iscid.org /boards/ubb-get_topic-f-6-t-000530.html (1897 words)

	The Sniper
		A more modern version of Descartes theory is the ‘brain in a vat’ concept.
		Imagine that you have no body at all and are only a brain kept separate from your body.
		However, the paradox of this theory comes in when Descartes realises, that in order to doubt your personal existence, you must exist.
	www.coursework.info /i/75304.html (448 words)

	Is it all in my imagination? - Above Top Secret Conspiracy Community
		The theory was presented in the book "The Elegant Universe" as well as other publications.
		Therefore if the "brain in a vat" theory is true, your brain has the power to make you believe everything you hear,see,touch,smell, and taste.Ex: A dream can do this.
		Our brains were designed to observe this realm or dimension only...and not the others that exist right next to us or parallel to us...
	www.abovetopsecret.com /forum/viewthread.php?tid=134944 (1376 words)

	David Chalmers: The Problem of Consciousness
		He is one of today's leading figures in the quest for a comprehensive theory of consciousness.
		It may be the largest outstanding obstacle in our quest for a scientific understanding of the universe....We have good reason to believe that consciousness arises from physical systems such as brains, but we have little idea how it arises, or why it exists at all.
		We do not just lack a detailed theory; we are entirely in the dark about how consciousness fits into the natural order.”–David Chalmers.
	www.wie.org /unbound/media.asp?ifr=bma&id=77 (368 words)

	Grasping Reality with Both Hands: The Semi-Daily Journal of Brad DeLong: The Meddling Idiot! As Though DeLong's Ape ...
		I take it for granted that "Martian physicists" have models of human brains at a subatomic level and understand the dynamic evolution of brain states and the connection of brain states to human actions, and do so at a level that makes "psychology" needless save as a shorthand way of dividing brain states into categories.
		However, a complete physical description of causal brain processes would not do, since it is really a matter of understanding how such physical-causal processes generate and process information, which would involve a process interrelating the organization of organic causality with interaction with external environmental causal events.
		Now, I would argue that the "glop" theory offers more insight into the faculty at Berkeley than theories about the effects of serotonin on the brain, and that even Martians with a practically god-like knowledge of the hard sciences might well be stuck with "glop".
	delong.typepad.com /sdj/2007/01/the_meddling_id.html (3231 words)

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