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Devans99

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So therefore there is no free will. We respond to input data in a deterministic manner. No choice is involved.
April 17, 2019 at 15:47
Thank you Frank and I like you too! Appreciate you listening and engaging with my 'ideas'. It's important we keep the discussions going. We will not r...
April 17, 2019 at 15:42
OK by 'choices' I meant 'the things that we do'. Making a 'decision' is just like running a computer program IMO: same data, same program, always same...
April 17, 2019 at 15:33
In what way?
April 17, 2019 at 15:25
I did try to read your post. I'm of the opinion that free will can be understood; we have none. Am I missing something?
April 17, 2019 at 15:23
It is obviously impossible not to be influenced by anything when making choices. A choice would not be possible without influences; we'd have nothing ...
April 17, 2019 at 15:03
Thank you. So in summary: - we can see how things could exist with a first cause - we cannot see how things could exist without a first cause
April 17, 2019 at 14:56
All you have said is what about God? Doesn't he need a cause? To which I have pointed out that God is timeless so no he does not need a cause. So I am...
April 17, 2019 at 14:46
So you admit you cannot answer the question: How anything in time can exist without a first cause?
April 17, 2019 at 14:31
Does time still pass in this case? My understanding is that it does. I imagine a clock and next to it empty space. Time passes for the clock (in motio...
April 17, 2019 at 14:27
Plank time is not the shortest possible duration, it is merely a unit of measurement derived from natural constants. Hmmm... and would that be a finit...
April 17, 2019 at 14:21
Interesting. I see God as timeless rather than a creature of time (or greater time). I am not clear though on what you think the length of now is? And...
April 17, 2019 at 14:08
You are correct, this is another potential example of infinity (in the small). I am a finitist, so I suspect the answer is (c) finite. I think Infinit...
April 17, 2019 at 14:00
Where?
April 17, 2019 at 13:58
The logic is that everything in time forms an infinite regress with no start. The only way escape that infinite regress is a timeless first cause. Els...
April 17, 2019 at 13:55
Yes, let me rephrase the question: Demonstrate how anything in time can exist without a first cause please.
April 17, 2019 at 13:47
You are illogical and closed minded. I've explained an infinite regress in enough detail that a child could get it. I give up. :(
April 17, 2019 at 13:42
Demonstrate how anything can exist without a first cause please. Any system can be thought of as a hierarchy of cause and effect. A pool table is an e...
April 17, 2019 at 13:39
No: everything IN TIME has a cause. The first cause is outside time so is not subject to causality. That is the only way that anything can logically e...
April 17, 2019 at 11:38
We would not make much progress in science or philosophy if everyone took that attitude. Riding in a beam of light seems imponderable too but that tho...
April 17, 2019 at 11:34
Do you think the length of now is: a. zero b. infinitesimal c. finite d. not applicable
April 17, 2019 at 11:19
Everything must have a cause apart from the first cause: (first cause) -> A -> B -> C If we take away the first cause, then A, B, C don't exist anymor...
April 17, 2019 at 11:17
The question is 'what (if applicable) is the length of now?'. Its one of those questions that might lead somewhere or might not even make sense, depen...
April 17, 2019 at 11:11
You are confused. Causality works forwards rather than backwards. So you have to work from the oldest first - the more recent elements depend on the o...
April 17, 2019 at 09:04
Please elaborate...
April 16, 2019 at 18:42
The fact nature exists and cannot have always have existed implies that something beyond nature (=supernatural) must exist. My approach is to assume c...
April 16, 2019 at 18:25
We have a breakdown of natural laws at the singularity... we have to try to use common sense instead. Something must of been causally before the singu...
April 16, 2019 at 18:13
I think a key question is can space exist without time? - Yes. Then material and God could exist in space without time. God would probably be material...
April 16, 2019 at 17:47
Maybe he might have to 'seed' it with something from God, but then the matter could be created from nothing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-energy...
April 16, 2019 at 17:26
Can an idea said to be real though? Is it just electrical signals in our brains? I'm not sure an idea has independent existence as in Plato's theory o...
April 16, 2019 at 16:25
Yes but working from the other direction - there is no start - so none of the years are defined. And that is the correct direction to work from - time...
April 16, 2019 at 16:10
Not all regresses are in time. Logical statements form a regress in that each logical statement depends on prior statement(s) for justification. I can...
April 16, 2019 at 11:58
All regresses in time are similar. Time itself is a regress. If you think about a moment, it defines/causes the following moment, so it forms a regres...
April 16, 2019 at 11:48
The point of a regress in time is that it has a distinct order - time order. And later events depend on earlier events. So you can't just reverse the ...
April 16, 2019 at 11:41
But how does a finite regress work any differently to an infinite regress? Without a start, neither exist. You can't number the events in reverse time...
April 16, 2019 at 11:28
We have a pool table. The cue hits the white ball. The white ball hits the black ball. The black goes in the pocket. Would the black ball go in if the...
April 16, 2019 at 10:56
Because the oldest item defines all the other items in the regress. For example: { 2016, 2017, 2018 } If I somehow could remove the year 2016, would t...
April 16, 2019 at 10:49
But you cannot start in 2018 - 2018 does not exist until 2017 has happened. 2017 defines 2018. You have to choose the start as the oldest item - and t...
April 16, 2019 at 10:44
Look: { ..., 2016, 2017, 2018 } It has no start, that's what the ... mean. If it had a start it would be a finite regress.
April 16, 2019 at 10:39
It does not matter which order you write it - it is the temporal order that matters - and 2017 comes before 2018 - and it has no temporal start.
April 16, 2019 at 10:36
2017 comes before 2018.
April 16, 2019 at 10:34
I have a suspicion that eternal return could be true but for a different reason. I think eternalism maybe true and time could be circular. So we could...
April 16, 2019 at 10:33
No an infinite regress in time looks like this: { ..., 2016, 2017, 2018 } The ... indicates that it has no start.
April 16, 2019 at 10:31
But the key point is an infinite regress has no start. If there is no starting element, then the element next to the start is undefined and so on for ...
April 16, 2019 at 10:27
I am still formulating my thoughts as to how best to dismiss infinite regresses. That long proof needs some more work...
April 16, 2019 at 10:16
I agree that the universe is finite. But if it was infinite, the this applies time wise: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poincaré_recurrence_theorem But...
April 16, 2019 at 10:11
No I am saying there is a property of all regresses called 'number of elements' and it is an integer property. You cannot set an integer property to a...
April 16, 2019 at 10:03
But if its infinite, it can't be a regress - a regress has an integer number of events in it. Or if you prefer, the first event defines the second, th...
April 16, 2019 at 09:58
No the number of events in an infinite regress is an integer. 1, 2, 3 ... is how we count events with integers. Infinity is not an integer. Its imposs...
April 16, 2019 at 09:52
But it's not an integer. So it can't be the number of events in an infinite regress - that takes an integer value.
April 16, 2019 at 09:48