I feel like I understand communist theory pretty well at a basic level, and I believe in it, but I just don't see what part of it requires belief in an objective world of matter. I don't believe in matter and I'm still a communist. And it seems that in the 21st century most people believe in materialism but not communism. What part of "people should have access to the stuff they need to live" requires believing that such stuff is real? After all, there are nonmaterial industries and they still need communism. Workers in the music industry are producing something that nearly everyone can agree only exists in our heads. And they're still exploited by capital, despite musical instruments being relatively cheap these days, because capital owns the system of distribution networks and access to consumers that is the means of profitability for music. Spotify isn't material, it's a computer program. It's information. It's a thoughtform. Yet it's still a means of production that ought to be seized for the liberation of the musician worker. What does materialism have to do with any of this?

  • BeamBrain [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Ultimately, though, all the infrastructure to support that exists in the material world. You cannot have a modern information age economy without the material basis of mines to dig up the raw material for those computers, factories to assemble those computers, and power to run those computers.

    • mah [none/use name]
      ·
      1 year ago

      yes, all of this is the product of labour. and HOW it has been produced matters.

    • DroneRights [it/its]
      hexagon
      ·
      1 year ago

      Right, but the mines, factories, and power are just a symbol created by the human brain to abstract away reality from our perceptions.

      • Abraxiel
        ·
        1 year ago

        symbol created by the human brain to abstract away reality from our perceptions.

        what do you mean by this?

        • DroneRights [it/its]
          hexagon
          ·
          1 year ago

          Well, let's start from within a materialist framework because you'll understand what I'm saying better if I pretend I believe in quantum theory. That mine, and that factory, are really just a big bunch of quantum strings. Or if you prefer simpler science, they're a bunch of atoms. It's the human brain which creates the label "mine" to assign to that hole in the dirt, and "factory" to that lump of metal. It's a symbol we invented. That's the simple part. The complicated part is that the quantum strings are symbols we invented too, but that would take too long to explain unless you've read Donald Hoffman's theory

          • Abraxiel
            ·
            1 year ago

            Together, MUI theory and Conscious Realism form the foundation for an overall theory that the physical world is not objective but is an epiphenomenon (secondary phenomenon) caused by consciousness. Hoffman has said that some form of reality may exist, but may be completely different from the reality our brains model and perceive.[9] Reality may not be made of space-time and physical objects.[3] Through supposing that consciousness is fundamental, Hoffman provides a possible solution to the hard problem of consciousness, which wrestles with the notion of why we seem to have conscious immediate experiences, and how sentient beings could arise from seemingly non-sentient matter. Hoffman argues that consciousness is more fundamental than the objects and patterns perceived by consciousness.[10][better source needed] We have conscious experiences because consciousness is posited as a fundamental aspect of reality. The problem of how sentient beings arise from seemingly non-sentient matter is also addressed because it alters the notion of non-sentient matter. Perceptions of non-sentient matter are mere byproducts of consciousness and don't necessarily reflect reality. This means the causal notion of non-sentient matter developing into sentient beings is open to question.

            This stuff? I'm not convinced that consciousness is more fundamental than matter. There are certainly things we do in order to be able to parse the world by reducing things into discrete ideas, categories, etc. and this is necessarily imperfect. But if you want to engage with the world as we experience it, materialist tools are the best ones we have for understanding it with any reliability. In the context of a political project, what else are you going to use to inform your behavior besides observations of reality?

            • DroneRights [it/its]
              hexagon
              ·
              1 year ago

              Yep, that's a summary of the end of Hoffman's books. It's missing the middle and beginning, though, which explain the problems with realism and answer your question.

              Hoffman says that we must take our perceptions seriously, but not literally. I know that my perceptions are a tool to help me survive and reproduce, because the theory of evolution holds true whether the world is material or ideal. So if I see a snake in the grass, I can trust my perceptions to tell me that my life may be in danger. I can trust them because that's what they're for, warning me about life threatening situations. But should I take the content literally? No. There's no such thing as a snake. There's something there, and it's something that could kill me, but it isn't a snake. It's a thing more complicated than a snake which my perceptions have simplified for my benefit. I trust my perceptions to help me with survival, but not with truth.

                • DroneRights [it/its]
                  hexagon
                  ·
                  1 year ago

                  We are talking about survival and prosperity for all, in a context unlike that for which our perceptions have evolved. When it comes to the threats of civilisation, like "Am I going to make enough money for rent", our brains are poorly equipped to handle that situation. Just as a fish is poorly equipped to survive on land. It is in the new context of the civilised world that we must begin using our power of reason instead of relying on nature's instincts.

      • BeamBrain [he/him]
        ·
        1 year ago

        You can call them what you want, but you won't have an information economy without them.

        • DroneRights [it/its]
          hexagon
          ·
          1 year ago

          Oh yes, I believe in taking the rules of my perceptual interface very seriously. If people believe in mines, then I get to work on computers. See, that's culture creating labour relations. That's what I'm talking about with idealistic communism.

            • DroneRights [it/its]
              hexagon
              ·
              1 year ago

              Well, I think the mine only has miners because people believe it's a mine, and I think the products of the mine only have value because people believe they're useful.