[FrustratedMonky]

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"If reasoning is an abstract pattern, then rice falling to the ground is likewise "reasoning"."

Technically, I think some philosophers over the ages have made that point, and argued that 'rice falling' is reasoning, and the rice is 'wanting' to be closer to the 'earth' or some such thing. It does sound wacky. Think Leibniz and monads made some argument like that.

And the various takes on 'Will to Power', Schopenhauer argued the will is a blind force. We don't have control of our own thoughts.

I think you are still giving humans too much credit for this aspect of 'cognition'.

"A man can do what he wills, but he cannot will what he wills." Schopenhauer

[mjburgess]

schopenhaur's idealism is indeed very similar, as is all idealism to this computational mysticism.

What none in this tradition considered possible is that the world exists; each reduced it down to a purely formal pattern one way or another.

Thankfully today we treat mental illness, and derealisation and depersonalisation and raised to this status.

I operate in a framework where there's a world and we're in it, and it is one way and not another, and the way it is arises from spatio-temporal properties that arent equivalent because the symbols we use in models of them are isomorphic.

In otherwords, I have passed through my phase of insanity and arrived back into the world where the grass is green because it is green; and the chair heavy, because it is massive,.

[FrustratedMonky]

"Before one studies Zen, mountains are mountains and waters are waters;

After one gains insight through the teachings of a master, mountains are no longer mountains and waters are no longer waters;

After enlightenment, mountains are once again mountains and waters are waters."

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or another i like

"Before enlightenment; chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment; chop wood, carry water.”

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Yes. I do get where you are coming from.

guess after doing a lot of meditating on 'no-self'. I started picking apart my own mind, and realizing it is all just electrical sparks and chemicals.

But then my engineer mind jumped in and said, of course we can model this. So then I get into arguments on the internet about how, of course we can model this.

Lets say we both agree on the real world existing. I think with us living in this real world. We are just arguing over the degree to which we'll be able to model a human. Of course, a model being an approximation. And I lean pretty far in the direction that once we model 'us' sufficiently to be indistinguishable from real 'us', then it will have also generated some subjective experience. (I firmly believed this until just recently after reading 'blindsight', i'm having doubts).

I think the Idealist from back in Schopenhauer day, were doing their best to describe the real world. Sometimes it sounds mystical, but that was before (or during) scientific revolution. The terminology is all different, and they didn't know a lot we take for granted. I wouldn't say they were mystics because they don't have todays knowledge.

The whole 'noumenal' world versus 'Phenomenal' world is valuable 'concept'. Our senses and mind only form an internal 'model' of the real world, it isn't the real world. But we can agree water is wet. But by how much. There are lot of studies about how different people perceive objects as moving faster/slower, etc... based on fear or anxiety. Our inner 'perception' isn't 'accurate', it isn't the actual real world. Just like a computers wouldn't be.