Despite my reputation for doing otherwise, I don't *intend* to splatter this already splattered thread, but I can't help observing that from what little biosemiotics I am familiar with, it seems like what we are hashing significantly overlaps their core tenets.
From Biosemiotics (Hoffmeyer, von Uexkull): “[i]n a world where nothing was predictable, Life would be out of a job” (Hoffmeyer, Signs 28). https://www.google.com/books/edition/Signs_of_Meaning_in_the_Universe/L5nSVthCFzUC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22on+nature%27s+tendency+to+acquire+habits%22&pg=PA24&printsec=frontcover "Meaning is the guiding star that biology must follow. The rule of causality is a poor guide: causal relationships deal only with antecedents and consequences, thereby completely concealing from us broad biological interrelationships and interactions11 (Meaning 43)." https://revistas.pucsp.br/index.php/cognitiofilosofia/article/viewFile/30210/21688#:~:text=In%20the%20relation%20between%20the,star%20that%20biology%20must%20follow. My summary of the issues is roughly that what makes "life" unique from all other forms/organizations of matter is the *apparent* ability/goal of sensing/predicting/acting. - Steve On 6/17/20 12:29 PM, ∄ uǝlƃ wrote: > Yes! That's an excellent example of when faith is useful. I've argued that > that particular usage isn't canonical, though. The canon I learned was that > faith is a truncation of inference useful in many types of circumstance. In > the end, it boils down to let's just get on with it and see what happens ... > as opposed to hand-wringing and worrying - analysis paralysis. I also think > it plays an important role in hypothesis formation. E.g. if we take physics > *seriously*, there must be some thing, XYZ, that plays the role of a magnetic > monopole. Such "taking seriously" is an act of (revocable) faith. I.e. you > don't have to stop the presses and derive everything from first principles > ever day all day, arguing about fundamental concepts ... you just get on with > it and see what happens. Relatedly, the "shut up and calculate" accusation is > really a strawman. Everyone *wants* to go deeper. But many of us have jobs, > and grass to mow, and children to raise, etc. We can't spend all our time > thinking about the One True Meaning of "free will". > > > On 6/17/20 11:09 AM, Gary Schiltz wrote: >> Maybe this has a lot to do with why people have "faith", they just get tired >> of trying to figure it all out, and it is so much easier to accept what a >> large group of your peers tells you. I think true wisdom starts when one >> realizes those limitations.
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