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Why aren't B theory believers called out for being the zombies that they are? (lemmy.world)

submitted 6 months ago by lililiIlil6457@lemmy.world to c/philosophy@lemmy.world

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Imagine believing that your life is just spread out over some “temporal dimension.” Hahaha. The self at 12 pm never flows to 12:00:01 pm. So the conscious experience of that self at 12pm never begins and never ends. That particular self simply has that one particular experience, and there’s not much else to be said. According to these weirdos, the experience would be “timeless.” Saying that the experience never ends could be misleading because it’s supposed to be “timeless.”

The B theory really isn’t conceivable, because it’s incompatible with conscious experience, but if you do try to imagine these zombies’ fake conscious experience, you get some kind of timeless thing that is obviously not what real experience is. The fact that they can’t understand this just proves their zombiehood.

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[–] DarkNightoftheSoul@mander.xyz 0 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I don't know the first thing about B theory, but I can tell that you're arguing from incredulity against a straw man.

[–] lililiIlil6457@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago

There are two options: The self having an experience at 12pm flows to the next moments, or the self does not flow to new experiences in the next moments.

The B theorists deny that anyone flows to a new experience, SO the self must simply experience 12pm eternally. But eternally may sound wrong because it can be interpreted as everlasting. Timeless might sound better, like how people say that if numbers existed, the numbers could be called either "timeless" or "eternal."

I concluded that the self must be eternally in that experience at 12pm, because there is no other conclusion.

[–] DerisionConsulting@lemmy.ca 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

"I half-learned something, don't quite understand what it actually is, but I want to feel smart by saying that I think other people are dumb".

Don't get me wrong, the B-theory of time doesn't hold up basic scrutiny, but "The self at 12 pm never flows to 12:00:01 pm" has nothing to do with it.

[–] lililiIlil6457@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago

YEAh yeah yeah " A-theorists also appeal to the fact that our temporal experience strongly suggests that time is dynamic." https://www.rep.routledge.com/articles/thematic/time-metaphysics-of/v-2/sections/the-b-theory-and-temporal-experience

"strongly suggests" . how about... the alternative is logically impossible.

[–] SamuraiBeandog@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You're experiencing some powerful Dunning Kruger effect.

[–] lililiIlil6457@lemmy.world 0 points 6 months ago

There's already evidence that some people don't experience time. The only thing to do now is determine who.

For example Bernardo Kastrup keeps saying he's not conscious of anything existing or anything happening, only conscious of the NOTHING . He even wrote an article for Scientific American saying he doesn't experience a flow of time.

Bernardo Kastrup: "There is no difference between everything and nothing. NONE WHATSOEVER. IT'S A COMPLETE DELUSION. NOTHING'S GOING ON." https://youtu.be/kkHC7t6QVhc?t=6071

Bernardo Kastrup part 2: "And I think it's true. That's the magic of existence. Nothing ever happens. Nothing ever happened. Nothing will ever happen." https://youtu.be/BG31Oz0VWmI?t=2893

Bernardo Kastrup part 3: Do We Actually Experience the Flow of Time? https://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/observations/do-we-actually-experience-the-flow-of-time/