Hi Marsha (Steve quoted) --
On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 6:13 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote:
Isn't free will dependent on causation, and isn't causation,
in the MoQ, an explanatory extension of a pattern?
[Steve]:
Yes, causation is understood as a stable pattern of preference,
B routinely values precondition A. Further, B literally IS a set
of such preferences.
[Marsha, on 5/1]:
I un-ask the question. Wherever those preferences lie,
they do not inherently exist.
Whoa! Hold on there, Marsha. You have a valid point that deserves a better
answer than Steve provided. The causation argument is superficial at best,
besides which cause-and-effect is only man's way of interpreting events as
sequential in time. As a consequence, you have been led to the depressing
conclusion that preference is deterministic.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The very fact that the primary
source (God, DQ or Essence) is hidden from us and regarded as "undefinable"
supports the principle of Free Will.
[Read the 'Hiddenness' essay on my Values Page at
www.essentialism.net/balance.htm]
Look at it this way: If you were suddenly granted total knowledge of past
and future events -- including your ultimate destiny -- what freedom would
you have? What choices would you make?
If you think about it, it becomes obvious that in order to exercise free
will, you must be "innocent" of Absolute Truth. That's why we humans are
denied empirical evidence of metaphysical reality, proof of God's existence,
or knowledge of the meaning and purpose of our existence. Such
understanding would subvert and prejudice our role as the free agents of
value.
Moreover, we do affect the world we live in. The laws of nature are only a
compilation of principles based on what has happened in the past, including
events that our decisions and choices have produced or influenced. What we
do now and in the future is a microcosm of these laws. Pirsig called
experience "the cutting edge of reality", by which he meant that the reality
we create for ourselves is actualized by experience within the parameters of
universal order. To say that everything is fixed as "predetermined patterns
of Quality" is to ignore that we constantly remake the world in accordance
with our value preferences.
So ask Steve to put away those causal syllogisms. Free Will Lives! And you
and I are living examples of this freedom.
Thanks and best regards,
Ham
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
From: "Steven Peterson" <[email protected]>
Hi Marsha,
When Pirsig says, A causes be can be thought of as B values
precondition A. I added that there is nothing more to B (whatever the
collection pattern being thought about)
than such preferences since preference is another word value and
since in the MOQ everything identifiable is thought of as a pattern of
value or collection of patterns.
Best,
Steve
On Sat, Apr 30, 2011 at 7:19 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote:
On Apr 30, 2011, at 7:04 AM, Steven Peterson wrote:
HI Steve,
I don't understand the last part of your statement: "Further, B literally
IS a
set of such preferences." Could you please elaborate.
Thank you.
Marsha
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