On Tue, Apr 24, 2012 at 12:49 AM, Craig Weinberg <whatsons...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> But are decisions that a person makes freely caused or uncaused? > > Both and neither. Just as a yellow traffic signal is neither red nor > green but represents possibilities of both stop and go. We are the > cause. We are influenced by causes but to varying degrees. We > influence our body and by extension the world with varying degrees of > freedom. EITHER something is determined/caused OR it's random/uncaused. This is standard use of language. You can define your own terms but then at least you should explain them in relation to the standard language: "what everyone else calls green, I call red, and what everyone else calls a dog, I call a cat". >> >> By this reasoning nothing can ever have an adequate explanation, since >> >> if the explanation offered for A is B, you can always ask, "But why >> >> should B apply to A?"; and if the answer is given, "Because empirical >> >> observation shows that it is so" you can dismiss it as unsatisfactory. >> >> > It depends what A and B are. If A is a cloud and B is rain, then you >> > can see that there could be a connection. If A is a neural fiber and B >> > is an experience of blue, then there is a gigantic gap separating the >> > two which can't be bridged just because we are used to looking at >> > physical objects relating to other physical objects and think it would >> > be convenient if subjects behaved that way as well. >> >> If you're bloody-minded enough you can claim here isn't really an >> obvious connection between clouds and rain either. > > Sure, it's a matter of degree. If I squeeze an orange, it follows very > logically that what comes out of it is orange juice. If I poke a > microorganism like a neuron with an electrode, it does not follow very > logically at all that comedy, symphonies or the smell of pineapple > should ensue. At some point you have to decide whether sanity is real > or reality is insane. I choose the former. But it's an empirical observation that if certain biochemical reactions occur (the ones involved in processing information) , consciousness results. That you find it mysterious is your problem, not nature's. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list?hl=en.
