Philosophy Vibe
Philosophy VibeJoin George and John as they discuss and debate different philosophical ideas, today they will be looking into the brain in a vat thought experiment. Could our whole reality be a complete falsehood, and instead of the life and world we think we live in, we are instead just a brain in a vat and all our experiences are being controlled by a mad scientist. Watch as this sceptical theory is debated.
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0:00 – Introduction
0:41 – Brain in a vat explained
2:51 – Putnam’s response (causal connection & incoherence)
6:25 – Problems with Putnam’s argument
7:18 – Should be we sceptics?
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27 Comments
@PhilosophyVibe
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMGet the Philosophy Vibe Metaphysics anthology book, available worldwide on Amazon:
https://mybook.to/philosophyvibevol2
@siennility4706
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMYeah the causal connection objection doesn't really mean anything as it's presented.
I may have a variant that argues there's a point where dogs being cats and up being down stops being a coherent worldview, so the potential to which you are deceived is thereby limited, but… Eh.
@lawrencerosin3100
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThough it is extremely unlikely that we're all brains in a vat for the same simulation, but you're right we can't rule it out.
@ardPArd
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMBrain in a vat, is just a thought experiment, because brain only exists in your head. Even if there is a brain in a vat, it is only a dead brain without any conscious experience and even a mad scientist cannot prove whether the brain has conscious experience or not.
@kameqblindweaver8296
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMA Song of Brains and Vats
@gm2407
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThis is a rehash of Rene Descarts' demon. He concluded that god would not play tricks on him like that.
My approach, which may not be better than any other and I accept could be worse.
If there is thinking, there is a cognition apparatus. If there is a cognition apparatus there is a mechanism to input stimuli for the cognition apparatus to experience. If there is stimuli there is something else that exists. If there is something that exists to be experienced and something to experience that other thing, then those are two subsets (experience provider and experience receiver) of a set of experiences. The cognition can not be certain that the inputs are accurate, and we must also consider that stored memories would be further input to cognition that may be faked. All we have are our memories and understandings based on those memories, so any altering of the basic abstractions a mind uses to perform cognition would render a mind incapable of holding a consistent understanding of anything. However the mind can conclude that some storeage does exist as there are memories held by the mind.
There is something to experience and something that experiences. (Is from an ought can not be proven) Does the something receiving the experience provide an experience to something else?
If cognition receives input of communication or interaction of another external cognition and experiences output of communication or interaction, then there must be other cognition or activity besides the mind considering its own cognition. (This requires differentiation between internal and external stimuli so I need to establish that in my argument for grounding the mind I will come back to this comment later).
@lee7701
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMI switched off for a second, looked back and the ant on my screen appeared real
@onetruekeeper
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMSince the brain has no sensory organs it cannot look at itself to find out it's true predicament.
@Ruchi553
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMGreat sir, India
@princessmarba2047
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMmabuang
@eratera5836
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMlet's-attack-those-aliens-on-the-spaceship-for being alien .. when we get out of virtual reality
@pauldirc..
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMGreat video
Please help me through this problem after reading Dr Robert sapolsky books behave and work of other neuroscientist like vs ramachandran I am fairly convinced that Free will and soul does not exist and it has givens me whole new level of existential crisis even when I turn atheist that does not to give me problem because reading stoicism and absurdism philosophy of albert camus give me that I can create my own meaning but after knowing the fact that I don't have free will how can I create meaning means I am the victim of law of Physics which navigate my life and I can't do anything like if I am miserable or lazy it is in my genes not my fault
@brentwebber3412
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThe best philosophy channel on the internet. SO GLAD that you guys are back. Thanks the lord. Thank you.
@Jamric-gr8gr
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMI would just be pragmatic and utilize the occam's razor. Why think we might be one of thousands of BIVs if we can just simply say that we live in the base reality….. ?
@scoogsy
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMI just love these videos. I wish you guys kept going for another hour! The whole thing seems really genuine and unscripted, even if it’s scripted.
Maybe everything is scripted? How would I know? How could I prove that in fact I haven’t been given a script to memorise and now I’m an actor in a grand play? 😂
@flix1179
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMcall this mad scientist demiurge and call the brain, the spirit
@alfredill45
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMthanks for great vids
@Existentialist946
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThis whole brain in a VAT buys into the idea that the immediate cause of our sensory perceptions are events in the brain. Brain in a VAT scenario is not possible if in fact we perceive the external world *directly*.
@tdillins
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMI think the fact that we inevitably die refutes this argument. Why does the brain shut down after X amount of years? If the brain is in a controlled environment such as a vat then would it not be possible to live forever in the simulation?
@javierpacheco8234
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThis was a great video, I'm not sure if this is a philosophical question but i always wonder why do we kill animals to eat as food? I always question that and is it possible to make a video about it.
@idkay-ramen
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMvery convincing argument, i am on george's side. also this reminds me of a webcomic called EcopportunityX, there is a character in there who has been captured and their brain taken out and kept in a vat. it has some philosophical stuff abt ai (it ties in to the brain in a vat thing dw), although it focuses more on the horror aspect. i recommend it a lot
@musclemanny
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMI think Descartes Demon is the best bet
@mac2phin
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThe Brain That Wouldn't Die. Classic schlock horror movie.
@cjortiz
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMEven to say 'I am a body in our universe' leaves so many things out: the way we grow over time, our transient nature, a dissipative structure with boundaries that break down at the molecular level. Whether framed as 'brains in vats' or people in Laniakia, some hypothesized structures are more meaningful and effective in guiding our interactions with nature; even 'brains in vats' could still be reframed as only atoms in the void, but doesnt this ultimately ring hollow of meaning, knowing that with the right mental framework we can more effectively interact with nature?
@AndyAlegria
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMThank you for bringing these sorts of videos back. I appreciate them. I'm surprised you went with Putnum's response since it is so weak. There isn't a stronger retort?
@Danish-s5c
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMMake A Video On Best Books For A Beginner Of Philosophy
Try To Give Links Also
And Make Videos Regularly
@beefwellington2945
02/21/2025 - 4:19 AMIm a hotdog in a pickle jar