I have an interest in “imaginary organisations”
Sam Harris, in November 2020 said he was turning in his “imaginary membership card to this imaginary organisation”, because some members of the group were sounding “fairly bonkers.”
What is “real” what is “imaginary” and in what ways does it matter?
I wanted to have a go at answering why I think, it is important to discriminate between “real” and “imaginary”,
maybe just to discover how wrong i can be
I wanted to use real wolves versus the Big Bad Wolf as an example
- Real wolves are constrained by physics and logic
- The Big Bad Wolf is constrained by fantasy
So
- If a pack of wolves want to eat us we need a gun
- If the Big Bad Wolf want to eat the kiddies a gun is a really bad idea
Anyone who has been a children understands that the Big Bad Wolf and the Boogey Man Under the Bed are significant problems
They are imaginary but they are real in their consequences
The rules of fantasy are interesting, things can change into their opposite, like attracts like, there are rituals, spell and incantations – lots and lots of words
The rules of logic and physics are difficult and can mostly be modelled mathematically
So why do I think it’s important to discriminate between “real” and “imaginary” ?
Because if we confuse the two, we end up using the wrong rules to participate in them.
Mr Rogan is not a philosopher he is a comedian, it would be wise to treat his circus accordingly
Sam Harris says that the Intellectual Dark Web is not real we need to treat that accordingly
My friend in the soap opera is an actor, attacking him for the sins of the character he is portraying, is a mix up of logical levels.
Source: (1) P2P | I have an interest in “imaginary organisations” | Facebook