On Thu, Aug 29, 2013 at 6:49 PM, John Clark <[email protected]> wrote: > On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 Russell Standish <[email protected]> wrote: > >> > It is, as always, a confusion of emergence levels. My will is an >> > emergent concept, > > > I have noticed a disturbing trend, the use of the word "emergent" as a > excuse for not thinking.
Sometimes that might be the case. Here, it's context. Free will is a human concept. Unless you frame it more precisely (through the mental tools of emergence and levels of abstraction), it becomes absurd. >> > that has no relevance to the microscopic realm of atoms, molecules > > > I have no objection to the word "will", it's only "free will" that's > gibberish; and if you change your will you change the arrangement of atoms > and molecules, and if somebody changes the arrangement of atoms and > molecules then your will changes. That seems pretty damn relevant to me, in > fact things just don't get any more relevant. > >> > Obviously, that the particular arrangement of molecules in my brain this >> > morning may have no precise causation is sufficient to guarantee my will to >> > be free. It is a debatable point whether it is necessary though > > > I recognize all the words but the way they are put together is such that If > you put a gun to my head I couldn't explain what the hell the above is > supposed to mean. > > John K Clark > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "Everything List" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
