Optimistic Naturalism : Scientific Advancement and the Meaning of Life

1. Optimistic Naturalism: Scientific Advancement and the Meaning of Life Dan Weijers (né Turton) VUW

2. The Meaning of Life • Confusing, but important question

4. The Meaning of Life • Confusing, but important question • Even analytic philosophers want to live a meaningful life • But how to do it?

5. Guidance on How to Live

6. This Talk • Optimistic Naturalism: • A theory to satisfy people with certain beliefs: • Naturalism & The Infinity Connection • An umbrella theory • Refutes a criticism of naturalist theories • Resolves Tolstoy’s Dilemma • Result for these people: • Their best bet for achieving a truly meaningful life is to help advance science & technology

7. The Main Positions • Supernaturalism: • more than a purely physical universe is required for life to be meaningful • Naturalism: • a meaningful life is possible in a purely physical universe • Nihilism: • life cannot be meaningful

8. Criticism of Naturalism • Theories don’t allow for much meaning • E.g. Taylor: Making plans and seeing them through • E.g. Frankfurt: Loving something or someone • E.g. Schlick: Doing lots of things for their own sake • Compare to going to heaven

9. Tolstoy’s Criticism • Naturalist theories cannot provide a meaningful life because they do not allow for a connection with the infinite

10. Tolstoy’s Dilemma • Concurrent belief in: • Naturalism • The Infinity Connection • Naturalist theories do not allow for a meaningful connection with the infinite • Tolstoy turned to Supernaturalism • But he shouldn’t have

11. Optimistic Naturalism • Naturalism: • meaningful lives are possible in a purely physical universe • The Infinity Connection: • a meaningful connection with the infinite is required for a truly meaningful life • Scientific Optimism: • continual scientific and technological advancement will allow us to make a meaningful connection with the infinite

12. Naturalism • A meaningful life is possible in a purely physical universe • Most recent work in this area assumes Naturalism (Metz 2007, p203) • Assumed to be plausible

13. The Infinity Connection • A meaningful connection with the infinite is required for a truly meaningful life • Needs further explanation • Assumed to be plausible

14. The Infinity Connection Cont. • Connections to infinity are diverse • Some make a life more meaningful • A few make a life truly meaningful • Connections could be meaningful for one or more reasons

15. The Continuum of Meaning Not at all meaningful Extremely meaningful ∞ 0.999…=1 The Infinity Connection: A meaningful connection with the infinite is required for a truly meaningful life

16. Scientific Optimism • Continual scientific and technological advancement will allow us to make a meaningful connection with the infinite • Needs to be argued for • Plausibility of Optimistic Naturalism hinges on it

17. Skepticism about Scientific Optimism • Most of the conceivable ways to meaningfully connect to the infinite require that the universe can support life infinitely • Being immortable • Affecting others for infinity • Can it?

18. Two Unappealing Options

19. There are Other Theories • Kurzweil’s Singularity • Eternal Inflation • Steady State Universe • Prevent aging/damage + time travel?!

20. Kurzweil’s Singularity • Law of accelerating returns • We’ll create AI, • Upload into robots • Become very smart • Become immortable

21. Humans  AI  AI+  AI++ • Assumptions • Law of accelerating returns (science & technology) • We can create AI • AI can create AI+ • AI+ can create AI++ • Etc.

22. Kaku: Escaping to New Universes • Inflation • Eternal Inflation • Bubble Universes in the lab? • Harness the power!! • Getting in there?

23. Progress • You don’t need to believe in these particular theories • Scientific advancement needn’t even be exponential • Our capacity to solve problems is constantly increasing • We can’t begin to imagine what the future might bring

24. Progress

25. Is Scientific Optimism Plausible? • Is this plausible?: • scientific and technological progress will make it possible for us to meaningfully connect to the infinite somehow • Myriad ways it might happen + • Ever increasing intelligence = • Scientific Optimism is plausible

26. Refuting Tolstoy’s Criticism • Tolstoy: Naturalist theories cannot provide a meaningful life because they do not allow for a connection with the infinite Not at all meaningful Extremely meaningful ∞ 0.999…=1

27. How to Resolve Tolstoy’s Dilemma • Concurrent belief in: • Naturalism • The Infinity Connection • Naturalist theories do not allow for a meaningful connection with the infinite • Swap 3 for Scientific Optimism • Become an Optimistic Naturalist

28. How to Should an Optimistic Naturalist Live? • Try to advance science and technology • Use your strengths and circumstances • Focus on possible near-future catastrophes • Have fun too

29. Faith in Science??? • To believe Optimistic Naturalism requires faith • Does that make it incoherent? • No, ON requires faith in certain facts about physical matters obtaining • Different to faith in Supernaturalism • Dogmatic belief in any theory requires faith in some unknown

30. Summary • Tolstoy’s criticism refuted • Tolstoy’s Dilemma resolved • New Position: Optimistic Naturalism • Naturalism • The Infinity Connection • Scientific Optimism