[MD] The Fringe Factor

[Micah]

Platt,

We know your cat has freedom. Freedom is a human mental concept; not only
does your cat not know it has freedom - it simply doesn't know. Knowing is
another human mental concept.

Here's an analogy -

If I have a fire and in the fire is a rock and the fire has been burning for
an hour - is the rock hot?

No - the rock is not hot, it is not anything but a rock. You are hot when
you touch the rock and you may say the rock is hot, but the rock doesn't
know what hot is. It is a rock. The rock's molecules have moved apart and
are moving, and a thermostat may read a high temperature, but the rock is
not hot. Hot is a mental concept we have and have placed on the rock. That
is an example of anthropomorphizing. Saying animals think is the same. We
think, and anthropomorphize the universe.

Think is an extremely complex concept. If animals think, that would include,
jealousy, whimsy, wistfulness, melancholy, outrage, empathy, deliriousness,
longing, to name but a few. How can animals that "think" remain static?

You may say, my cat thinks but in a limited range. You have decided your cat
"thinks" and even his range of thought, but your not anthropomorphizing?

Can you begin to see that man is the measure of all things?

Micah



-----Original Message-----
From: moq_discuss-bounces at moqtalk.org
[mailto:moq_discuss-bounces at moqtalk.org]On Behalf Of pholden at davtv.com
Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006 2:31 PM
To: moq_discuss at moqtalk.org
Subject: Re: [MD] The Fringe Factor


Quoting LARAMIE LOEWEN <jeffersonrank1 at msn.com>:

> Platt,
>
> Your cat may have Buddha nature, but she doesn't know it.
> She knows, but doesn't know that she knows- so no real Self or freedom.
>
> My apologies if she is a he.

My cat definitely has a Buddha nature. I don't know if he knows it or not,
but
he has a self without being self-conscious. There is no other cat in the
universe
exactly like him. As to freedom, he has a lot more of it than a snail or a
worm,
being a higher form of biological creature. In fact, evolution can be
measured
not only by increasing complexity but by the amount of freedom each
advancing
level bestows on its critters. It's a moral universe.

Best,
Platt


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