Michael Shermer - What is Intentionality?

'Intentionality' is a philosophical term that describes the elements of mental states that are 'directed' at things or ideas—the fact that thinking, feeling, hoping, believing, desiring are 'about' things. How can physical brain processes—electric currents and chemical concentrations—be 'about' things? Intentionality, some claim, is a problem for physicalists.



Michael Brant Shermer is an American science writer, historian of science, founder of The Skeptics Society, and Editor in Chief of its magazine Skeptic, which is largely devoted to investigating pseudoscientific and supernatural claims.


Closer to Truth, hosted by Robert Lawrence Kuhn and directed by Peter Getzels, presents the world’s greatest thinkers exploring humanity’s deepest questions. Discover fundamental issues of existence. Engage new and diverse ways of thinking. Appreciate intense debates. Share your own opinions. Seek your own answers.

[treasurepoem]

It's from the heart not the brain about believing in God and we have no free will. An example of the limit of Michael's free will is shown in the video, that he's right handed and so isn't choosing to use his left hand everyday for daily activities, like to eat with a forth, using the bathroom, etc. and at other times, like opening a door, shaking hands, waving, writing, paying for things, grabbing things etc.

[alvarodeoliveirafranco]

I thought they would discuss the philosophical concept called intentionality (e.g. Husserl's intentionality)

[SabiazothPsyche]

This whole thing about "dualism" vs "non-dualism", or vise versa, is an unintentional approach to diminish, or possibly terminate, the conductor who is the "doership".

[godthecreatoryhvh]

By the way I what all of you to know how much I love you all and I care for all of you. 😎

[jackarmstrong]

There MUST ALWAYS be a duality in the phenomena of subjective experience. Subjective experience is a subject experiencing things. A clear duality. The subject on one side. Experiences on the other.

[francesco]

While i dont agree in some Shermer opinions he have a VERY interesting youtube channel and he have a very interesting episode with Kastrup. The kind of episode i would like to see in this great channel too.

[davidrandell]

QM classicalized in 2010:Juliana Mortenson website Forgotten Physics. “The Final Theory: Rethinking Our Scientific Legacy “, Mark McCutcheon for proper physics. “Freedom: an impossible reality”, Raymond Tallis for ‘intentionality.’ “The Unique and Its Property “, Max Stirner/Landstreicher for an end to ‘tribalism’ and a whole lot more.

[nuqwestr]

Sir Roger Penrose playing with repeating and non-repeating tiles on a Euclidean plane speaks to me of "Free Agency". Laying out a pattern of non-repeating tiles looks to require "agency", or at least allows for it.

[AMorgan]

There's a Star Trek Next Gen thread in which Picard lives an entire lifetime in a simulation of a civilization of a vanished world. I sometimes have dreams in which characters come vividly alive, and wonder, after I've awaken, that their only existence will be in a fleeting dream of a nobody.

[owencampbell]

The evolving processes of our brains from our early ancestors inherited experiences, are factors that have to be considered in the development of modern consciousness.
We can't start from this day on, we have to consider the recorded experiences of the past interfering with the present experiences and the influenced nature of being the way we are shaped. Our conscious minds, depends on all the informations it has and generates the little independent free decision it has to the one or other influenced direction. I call it the individual mentality based on the influenced direction, a human thinks, behave, believes, blocks, negates, his whole life.
The only missing factor is, where is consciousness situated.

[TheBenevolentDictatorship]

Why would “Closer to Truth” interview Shermer, who begins with an a priori materialistic presupposition, on question relating to idealism and agency? This is akin to interviewing Dawkins on questions of Theology—you already know he outright rejects the basic premise, and so anything that follows is predictable blind speculation. I would love to see Paul Davies interviewed on this subject, or even Sam Harris would’ve been a much better option. I knew what Shermer’s answers were going to be before the interview started. And it’s amusing how he states his answers as a matter of fact when no one has any idea how to go about addressing the “hard problem of consciousness.” The man founded Skeptic magazine, and is known for his Neo-atheist panel discussions and debates, and so it simply doesn’t make sense to interview such a person on what is a very interesting subject. Maybe someone should inform Shermer that materialism has been proven insufficient in its explanatory power by the discovery of quantum mechanics almost a century ago?

[ahmadkhan]

Scientist never explain what is conciousness ...

[SRAVALM]

What books a person recommends says much about the person, and what a person proffers says much about the books they read.

[jamesruscheinski]

Is the ability to use or direct energy part of agency?

[nyworker]

The very idea of the space time meant Einstein had some interesting things happening in his brain. The ability to be that counterintuitive is how we now train brains in the fields of the arts and the sciences. Religion is partly responsible for inspiring science. Galileo may have been condemned, not for being wrong as much as going against what drove the social order of it's day which was ironically created by religion.

[kallianpublico]

"Under the influence". Is there more than one kind of intentionality? More than one kind of influence?

[tchristian]

He never gives any reason to think that materialism is true here. He just assumes it and then tries to explain away notions that don't cohere with materialism as illusions suffered by who (material?) about whatever. And he doesn't ever bother, since the illusions are about something, to explain away the intentionality of the illusions.

[jairofonseca]

Materialism is Dead, now ... once we encounter the Subjective Realm, Science starts losing ground.

[jamesruscheinski]

Categorization could be used for good, as to the needs of a certain class, such as dogs; or how to relate to various people

[iscottke]

What is prior to the incarnate is difficult to see from the incarnate. That's not reason enough to take the leap of faith that God is the brains imagination.