[FRIAM] Shorthands for Brain-stuff

[thompnickson2 at gmail.com]

Frank,

 

Causality is one of the great cesspools of philosophy, and I am in no position to pump it.  For one thing, it seems to me that causality statements are classic instances of category errors.  We speak of event A causing event B, but, whenever we do, we are adverting to evidence that shows that Events of Class A have been necessary or sufficient conditions for event of Class B.  So, like any things, causality lives at a higher level of organization than that to which we normally attribute it.  We can say that a single event  of B following A is consistent with causality, but we probably should be careful never to say that event A caused event B.  After all, this instance of B following A, could always, conceivably, be a coincidence.  

 

I would love to know what your collaborators think of that assertion.  Is this the kind of thing that George Duncan could dope-slap me about?

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology

Clark University

 <mailto:ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com> ThompNickSon2 at gmail.com

 <https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/

 

 

From: Friam <friam-bounces at redfish.com> On Behalf Of Frank Wimberly
Sent: Sunday, October 4, 2020 9:21 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <friam at redfish.com>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Shorthands for Brain-stuff

 

Having worked in the field of causal reasoning for many years I am inclined to say that every event is both a cause and an effect.  But perhaps you're using the words differently.

---
Frank C. Wimberly
140 Calle Ojo Feliz, 
Santa Fe, NM 87505

505 670-9918
Santa Fe, NM

 

On Sun, Oct 4, 2020, 9:11 PM Marcus Daniels <marcus at snoutfarm.com <mailto:marcus at snoutfarm.com> > wrote:

 

MGD>  In your model intents come from the l.teleonomicus, machinery that follows the same rules of physics as everything else.

[NST===>Yes, but not just those laws.  <===nst] 

 

What other rules?  There are rules that override physics?  How is that lump of goo different from any other lump of goo?

 

Marcus

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