I suspect that any universe that produces regular patterns must have a ground truth. Embedded observers cannot recognize whether their models match the groundtruth, but they may be able to map the (infinite) space of theories that can explain the observations.
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Replying to @Plinz
The anthropologist's dilemma applies equally to the universe in which the observers serve as agents of the cosmos itself.
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Replying to @RitaJKing
Fortunately a cosmos with agency is a figment of the imagination of its agents.
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Replying to @RitaJKing
If we can in principle have no evidence then we must have no confidence. All actions and beliefs based on nonzero confidence in cosmic agency are therefore refering to a fantasy, regardless of the actual groundtruth.
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Replying to @RitaJKing
Yes, I see it as the ability to define and act on one's goals. Kegan's stages describe a ladder of increasing agency.
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Replying to @Plinz
I can go both ways on what I'm about to say but if humans have agency then that may be evidence that the universe does. A subset of those goals may well be in service of the universe's agency.
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Replying to @RitaJKing
Our sense of cosmic agency cannot be the result of observations, it is probably just the expression of our own, intrinsic need for extrapersonal purpose, which results from an evolutionary pressure to submit to a superorganism to improve fitness in multilevel selection.
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Replying to @Plinz
Even a sense of purpose that seems extrapersonal is usually very personal, though the person may be an outlier.
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The person is an arbitrary fiction of the mind. It is only a part of our identification (except for true sociopaths), and we can even turn it completely off without losing our mind. What we identify with is what our mind tries to preserve and regulate for.
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Replying to @Plinz
I struggle every day to anchor myself in that fiction and yet, I still need to meet deadlines and pay taxes, etc.
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Replying to @RitaJKing
Yes, you don't need to do that. Only you need to do that.
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End of conversation
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