Dan Dennett is interviewed by Robert Wright about his views on evolution and consciousness. Their views on evolution differ, especially with Wright's contention that evolution is goal-oriented in someway, and that history progresses in a predictable direction and points toward a certain end: a world of increasing human cooperation where greed and hatred have outlived their usefulness. All in the name of evolution — and game theory, that is. IMHO it's a lot of gibberish. Evolution is not teleology. It's a gross misunderstanding of the principles of evolution. I think Dennett does a nice job at pointing this out. Wright is not all ears, though.
On the second topic, consciousness, Wright and Dennett disagree profoundly. I'm not entirely sure whether Wright takes on the job as a Devil's advocate, or if he really means that epiphenomenalism is a logical possibility. I think the latter: Wright seems totally agnostic towards Dennett's thoughts. They simply won't penetrate Wright's mind.
If you listen carefully (with earphones, like me) you'll hear Dennett make a dozen sighs along the talk. I can understand why. It's a Sisyphean task to discuss these topics, and you're bound to run into people with the same scientific agnosticism or even atheism that hinders true progress in our understanding of topics such as evolution and consciousness.
You can find the interview here.
-Thomas
Well, if the ‘opponent’ is epiphenomenalism, as Wright states it – why would that be considered a hindrance to understanding the mind scientifically? You might say that it’s a sisyphean task for us who sincerely believe that epiphenomenalism is a logical possibility (by analysis) to make the non-believers of this analysis realize it.
To me it’s obvious that Dennett hasn’t tried understanding what the consequences of the kind of epiphenomenalism Wright poses is.
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