On Mon, Sep 30, 2013 at 04:39:28PM +1300, LizR wrote: > On 30 September 2013 16:18, meekerdb <[email protected]> wrote: > > > On 9/29/2013 6:03 PM, LizR wrote: > > > > On 30 September 2013 13:58, Russell Standish <[email protected]>wrote: > > > >> The reason it doesn't make the will a slave to randomness, is that the > >> will is random in its essence. There is no self-other distinction > >> between the will and the random source. > >> > > > > I don't see this. The random source here is the laws of physics, surely? > > So unless you identify your will with physical law, > > > > Why not?...with the physical function of your brain and body. What about > > the deterministic part...it's also from the laws physics. > > > > I may not have put that very well, but what I want to know is, how is this > supposed to stop the will being "A slave to randomness" ? It seems to me > that Russell is saying that if you throw dice, you're a slave to > randomness, while if you move the dsce inside your head (so to speak) you > aren't. I suspect I'm missing something obvious here, it wouldn't be the > first time. >
"Throwing dice inside my head" is part of me, part of the entity making the decision, using a dice thrown externally to me is just abrogating my free will to an external agent. This would be true regardless of whether randomness is involved. If I make my decisions depend on the output of a cuckoo clock (to borrow John's phrase) I am equally abrogating my free will. Cheers -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Prof Russell Standish Phone 0425 253119 (mobile) Principal, High Performance Coders Visiting Professor of Mathematics [email protected] University of New South Wales http://www.hpcoders.com.au ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- 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.
