Q&A: The Behavior of Molecules and Another Question
The Behavior of Molecules and Another Question
Question
Hello to the honored Rabbi. In your book God Plays Dice, the Rabbi said that nobody has any idea how a sequence of molecules creates feelings, consciousness, and will, and said that this is different from a sequence of water molecules, where connecting several molecules creates a liquid (I’m not really well-versed in the scientific details). And I had a bit of a question: what is the difference between the fact that connecting several molecules suddenly creates a “force field” that causes liquidity? That too is arbitrary. And what is the difference between water and a collection of molecules that creates consciousness?
By the way, in that same book you elaborated against materialism. You said that although evolution can cause a gene to identify with suffering and the like, it can never create the fact that we see value in that gene. Am I right?
As for the claim that one cannot say anything about something on the basis of external assumptions, as David Hume explained, I didn’t really understand how one decides moral and aesthetic questions.
I hope I managed to explain myself.
Answer
Liquidity can be explained on the basis of the properties of the individual molecule. Therefore this is weak emergence. But the emergence of the mental from the material whole is strong emergence (the macro cannot be explained in terms of the micro). I explained this in the book.
Evolution can create a feeling of value, but not valid value. At most, what you have here is an illusory feeling.
I did not understand the last question.
Discussion on Answer
What does that have to do with need?
He said that it doesn’t create real value, only an illusion of value.
And I’m asking, what difference is there for any practical purpose?
Who was talking about practicality? There are practical differences, but that isn’t the topic here.
The value is valid in the eyes of the robot that experiences it; why do you need anything more than that?