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From: jim@ism780b.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.philosophy
Subject: Re: Free [Will, Lunch, Software]
Message-ID: <42@ism780b.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 8-Aug-84 00:19:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: ism780b.42
Posted: Wed Aug  8 00:19:24 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 4-Aug-84 01:33:16 EDT
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Nf-ID: #R:houca:-44800:ism780b:27500030:000:5193
Nf-From: ism780b!jim    Jul 30 18:23:00 1984

> I can't question the existance of cause
> and effect because the language doesn't allow it.

You seem to be assuming that "cause and effect" is an independent something
that either does exist or does not, in the same way that black holes either
do exist or not.  But "cause and effect" is only a concept which is used
to describe a characteristic of the perceived world so that we can
communicate.  We assume that our meanings of "cause and effect" are
sufficiently similar that we will communicate faithfully in normal situations.
When we start talking about "what is cause and effect?", we are merely talking
about sharpening up our definition, making our dictionary entry more robust.
This is the business of modern philosophy: clarifying the definitions of
terms so that they do encompass that which we want them to, and do not
encompass that that which we do not want them to.  The question is not "is
there free will" or "is there cause and effect", but rather, how do we define
these terms in such a way that they fit our intuitive notions.

> I can't speak of time
> flowing from Present to Past because the language doesn't allow it.

That simply isn't true; you are speaking of it.  It is just that the agreed
meaning of the words "time", "flowing", "past", and "present" contain
the flowing of time from past and present.  Define the word "past".
Define the word "present".  Past is that which precedes present,
*by definition*.  The flow of time refers to the fact that we perceive the
present after we precede the past.  That notion is tied up in the definition
of the word "after".  If you want to avoid perceptions, and just draw
time lines, then there is no "flow", just points on a graph.
Viewed flatly that way, one could redefine cause and effect in such a way
that the bullet hitting the target causes you to pull the trigger,
because the one implies the other, but this just doesn't match the way we
*use* the word, and therefore the way we should choose to define it.

> The previous two sentences use the word "because," which assumes Cause
> and Effect.

No, it doesn't *assume* it, it *implies* it.  You used the word because (!)
of its meaning and the way we use language.  The fact that you used it
and we understood it reveals that cause and effect really is a shared concept,
i.e., it "exists".

> But it might bring into the light, concepts that nobody ever thinks about
> because they get short circuited by the language that attempts to describe
> them.

I think you are being naive about the things that some people have thought
about.  If you are saying that the average person should spend more time
thinking about the deep implications and assumptions of the words they use and
the way they affect thinking, I certainly agree.

> What about the time between the cause and the effect?  Between A and B.
> What goes on in there?  If there is no time between A and B, then they
> happen simultaneously, and A cannot cause B.  If there is time between
> A and B, and nothing happens during that time, then how can we say that
> A causes B?  Induction doesn't seem to explain anything here.  It just
> puts off understanding forever.

This is known as Zeno's paradox.  Its flaw is that a whole can be made up
of an infinite number of infinitesimals.  Lots and lots of "no time"s
between events really do add up to a finite time.  Now, it turns out that,
in the real physical world, you don't even need to worry about Zeno's
paradox, because time is quantized, and so B happens in the next time
packet following A, and there are no packets in between.

Your understanding is put off forever, because you want to believe that there
is something deeper underneath cause and effect than induction.
As I indicated previously, I hold that there is not.

>>> I choose which future will become my past.
>
>>This sort of statement begs the question:  What does it mean to choose?
>>How do you go about doing it?  How do we determine which things you are
>>capable of choosing and which you are not (some people would argue
>>that you are capable of choosing anything, but they are not very interesting
>>to talk to)?
>
> And all statements about free will and determinism will beg the question
> if they are worded in language based on Cause and Effect and Time marching
> On.

Talk about begging the question!  Still nothing about what it means to choose.
But, I quite disagree with you.  By my definition, I lack free will to the
degree to which someone can predict the decisions I will make (e.g., I have
little free will about quitting my job tomorrow; I have some, but not much,
due to my conditioning, insecurities, etc.).  I think that definition covers
intuitive notions of free will and encompasses that which we consider to
be free will fairly well.  And, by my definition, something is determined
if it is the only possible outcome; that is, it is the only possible effect
given a particular configuration.  Note that free will and determinism *are
not* mutually exclusive.  If even I myself cannot predict my decisions, then I
have free will regardless of how tightly coupled my brain state and my actions
are.

-- Jim Balter, INTERACTIVE Systems (ima!jim)