Philosophy

1856 readers

1 users here now

Discussion of philosophy

founded 3 years ago

MODERATORS

metic@lemmy.world

What is an observer? (fedia.io)

submitted 1 month ago by BlueberryAlice@fedia.io to c/philosophy@lemmy.world

9 comments fedilink hide all child comments

What is an observer?

We have long assumed
that “an observer observes the world.”

But what if—

observation itself is not something we do,
but something that only appears
when certain conditions are met?

Two independent systems
align only at specific moments.

Yet this alignment cannot be explained
by causality, correlation, or measurement.

So who is observing?

Or rather—

does the observer emerge
only when observation becomes possible?

Summary 👇
https://docs.google.com/document/d/19nDAJ_9MgrUFv4Ggyd9yvZIy4YCH9EqSlVOZPr_VuPs/edit?usp=drivesdk

What do you think about this perspective?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 2 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I don't think there is an observer. There's just consciousness and its content. Obviously I have a subjective point of view but that doesn't mean there's a centre to my counsciousness where the self is located.

[–] BlueberryAlice@fedia.io 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

@Iconoclast@feddit.uk

So, do you think that the self is a collection of consciousness?

From the standpoint of the paper, we do not consider the self to be a collection of consciousness.

Furthermore, we do not equate the self with the observing subject.

The observing subject is Absolute Subjectivity, which is neither something that appears as content within consciousness nor something that can be defined as a personal self belonging to an individual.

What is commonly referred to as the ‘self’ is merely a construct that appears within consciousness.

Absolute Subjectivity, on the other hand, is the foundational source of observation itself. Some may refer to it as the Creator or as God.

[–] Iconoclast@feddit.uk 1 points 1 month ago

No, I don't think there's such a thing as a self. It's just an illusion. Obviously there's a difference between something happening in my consciousness versus someone else's, so subjectivity is real, but there's no one in the center doing the observing. It's just appearances in consciousness - sounds, sensations, thoughts, feelings... Nothing wills them into existence. They just appear from seemingly nowhere. You can't really think a thought before you think it.