Ben,
My first thought here is that - ironically given recent discussion - this is
entirely a *philosophical* POV.
Yes, a great deal of science takes the form below, i.e. of establishing
"correlations" - and v. often between biological or environmental factors and
diseases.
However, it is understood that this is only provisional knowledge. The aim of
science is always to move beyond it and to establish causal relations - and for
example eliminate some correlations as not causal. That science is about
causality is decidedly not "up to you." What is at stake here is science's
mechanistic worldview, which sees things as machines and matter in motion, one
part moving [or "causing"] another. That is not, as you imply, optional. It is
the foundation of science. Nor is it optional in technology or AI.
Of course if you just want to be a philosopher...
Ben,
About F=ma ... I think Norwood Russel Hanson, in "Patterns of Discovery",
wrote nicely about the multiple possible interpretations..
About the other things you mention: whether I as a human would describe these
things as "causal" wasn't really my point.
You can have scientific theories of the form "In contexts of type C, if
action A is taken at time T, then result R will occur at time T+S with
probability p".
If you want to interpret these as "causal" in some sense that is up to you.
-- Ben
On Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 8:07 AM, Mike Tintner <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Ben:
The notion of "cause" is not part of any major scientific theory,
actually. It's a folk-psychology concept that humans use to help them
intuitively understand science and other things. There is no formal notion of
causation in physics, chemistry, biology, etc.
P.S.
Googling juar "viruses cause" gets 277,000 hits - many scientific. IOW
what's your point?
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
agi | Archives | Modify Your Subscription
--
Ben Goertzel, PhD
CEO, Novamente LLC and Biomind LLC
Director of Research, SIAI
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a
hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a
wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act
alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a
computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization
is for insects." -- Robert Heinlein
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
agi | Archives | Modify Your Subscription
-------------------------------------------
agi
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/303/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/303/
Modify Your Subscription:
https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=8660244&id_secret=117534816-b15a34
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com
