You are viewing the historical archive of The Philosophy Forum.
For current discussions, visit the live forum.
Go to live forum

Possibility

Comments

What I’m saying is that the structural model we use is inaccurate, and fails to account for anomalies. It isn’t that ‘social instinct’ overrides ‘surv...
March 29, 2020 at 02:59
Because this particular potential (among others) was realised by an acorn’s interaction with the world. It does work - you’re just not accustomed to l...
March 29, 2020 at 01:56
In my view, all actuality is a result of interactions between potentiality, manifest in one, two, three and four-dimensional relations. Aristotle reco...
March 28, 2020 at 10:24
I think our systemic needs are more basic than this. We don’t need food, shelter and medication as such, but we do need the availability of nutrition ...
March 28, 2020 at 09:42
Happiness is a temporarily introspected positive affect. The notion that it’s even possible to somehow attain this with any permanency is false. And y...
March 28, 2020 at 08:00
I think we continue to make the mistake of assuming that ‘prior’ to the Big Bang, everything still needs to be explained in relation to spacetime. We’...
March 28, 2020 at 06:53
Singing can be a social thing, but it can also be an alone thing. Music is about relationships of sound - so I’d say that singing is more of a relatio...
March 26, 2020 at 16:39
You don’t ‘entertain’ self-love. Let me go back a step, and try to meet you where you’re at... Jesus’ message was to challenge the notion of ‘self-lov...
March 26, 2020 at 10:45
Just because the probability isn’t high, doesn’t mean the potential isn’t there.
March 26, 2020 at 01:20
Things are working dynamically, but not necessarily towards ends - this remains debatable, particularly when you look closely at what it is that chang...
March 26, 2020 at 01:18
That’s kind of the point. It doesn’t help to try and define ourselves as a separate entity in relation to the world - this is where the loneliness ste...
March 25, 2020 at 23:43
My apologies, I haven’t read Dostoevsky, so I’m probably out of my depth - just responding to the quote out of context. Interesting that the ‘systems ...
March 25, 2020 at 08:36
A parable is a story illustrating a moral or spiritual lesson. I imagine the lesson you’re going for is something along the lines of: ‘The relationshi...
March 25, 2020 at 07:56
I think the difference between love for oneself radiating outward and egoism or vanity is regarding the ‘self’ as distinct from others, as isolated or...
March 25, 2020 at 07:32
I’m not sure what you’re trying to argue here in relation to what I’ve written. I haven’t said anything about ‘science’ in particular.
March 24, 2020 at 11:35
Plenty of truth to this. With systems and abstract deductions comes a sense of order and the illusion that we understand exactly how to deal with the ...
March 23, 2020 at 09:59
It’s not so much that they point in different directions. This is a misunderstanding that stems from thinking of purpose at a reduced level of awarene...
March 22, 2020 at 14:09
But ‘things’ are not operating towards ends that can be objectively defined. There is purpose, sure - but what we understand of that purpose is relati...
March 22, 2020 at 06:58
No - I’m saying that the manifestation of dispositional potential is limited by the interacting perspective. There is more dispositional potential to ...
March 22, 2020 at 02:50
The entire form is not normally passed on, though. The offspring takes on only the concept of the species, just like the art. What is passed on is inf...
March 22, 2020 at 00:34
That’s interesting, because you did distinguish between extrinsic and intrinsic teleology with this example: I agree that there is no difference, and ...
March 21, 2020 at 10:26
My point is that teleological explanations necessarily isolate an interaction from the conditions in which it occurs. It sounds ridiculous when you tr...
March 21, 2020 at 05:14
So, what you’re saying is that it’s ‘teleological’ if you ignore the causal conditions contributing to the object/process/state of things? Isn’t that ...
March 21, 2020 at 04:05
How is ‘passed on’ not the same as ‘imparted’ in relation to DNA information? What’s the difference?
March 21, 2020 at 03:50
Imagination - yes. Perception is subjective, ‘seeing’ with the mind or understanding. Your mind is not only four-dimensional - if you’re capable of co...
March 21, 2020 at 02:34
Both teleological explanations and efficient causation derive from Aristotlean philosophy, which attempts to ‘solve’ the problem of infinite regress w...
March 20, 2020 at 09:40
We can’t measure them - we can subjectively relate to possibilities, and perceive the potential manifested from this interaction. To observe is to loo...
March 17, 2020 at 10:08
The problem here is not excess thought, it’s how we perceive prediction error, which is experienced as humility, pain, loss or lack. We generally refe...
March 16, 2020 at 14:33
Well, it’s neither of these at this level. Structure: the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex. I apply the...
March 16, 2020 at 11:21
Both. In a way I get what you’re trying to allude to: that thought is not understanding. But it’s not so much the rejection of thinking that allows fo...
March 15, 2020 at 08:42
Not complicating, but extending - and spherical possibilities, to be precise :joke: I was taking the opportunity to illustrate the dimensional awarene...
March 15, 2020 at 06:17
Billiard balls appear to operate only on a two-dimensional plane, but this isn’t the case - they’re three-dimensional objects. You can make a billiard...
March 15, 2020 at 01:39
:clap:
March 12, 2020 at 23:07
Not quite - I believe that the will is wholly a five-dimensional faculty, which determines and initiates all action according to ignorance/awareness, ...
March 12, 2020 at 22:55
In my opinion, too, to some extent - but for different reasons. Still, that doesn’t stop consciousness (as a concept described with words) from being ...
March 12, 2020 at 12:20
I agree with you here - I think this describes roughly where my own theory differs from Gnomon’s. I like the idea of a broader sense of ‘radical other...
March 12, 2020 at 06:15
2 is more of a comfort to believe, particularly considering the relativity of time, and the uncertainty it lends to our notion of reality. In my opini...
March 12, 2020 at 00:42
Focusing on resisting a particular action is not demonstrating awareness, connection or collaboration with the range of alternatives available. Rememb...
March 12, 2020 at 00:14
This here is part of the reason we’re not doing such a great job of it. It isn’t about wresting control from the laws of nature or imposing our collec...
March 11, 2020 at 23:23
So let me ask: When consciousness emerges, at what point is it in fact consciousness? When does it stop being consciousness? If a computer program can...
March 11, 2020 at 14:16
I’m not sure what you’re asking here.
March 11, 2020 at 10:25
To the extent that they’re failing or struggling to recover, they are likely unaware, isolated or excluded from a relation to their own potential, yes...
March 10, 2020 at 23:04
Not just awareness - also connection and collaboration. Being informed of alternative options is just the start. It’s all very well to tell someone th...
March 10, 2020 at 15:48
Purpose: an explanation, cause or justification (ie. reason) for existence. The human organism has not evolved to maximise survival, dominance or proc...
March 10, 2020 at 13:58
*sigh* Yes - potentially, anyone is free. Even the addict.
March 10, 2020 at 13:20
The will is the faculty by which we determine and initiate action via three conceptual ‘gates’: ignorance/awareness, isolation/connection and exclusio...
March 10, 2020 at 10:37
First of all, I tend not to define an ‘agent’, because I believe all agency derives from awareness, connection and collaboration - in that sense, we a...
March 09, 2020 at 12:08
Well, it seems like you haven’t really followed much of what I’ve written in this thread at all. No, a capacity is NOT observable, only perceivable. W...
March 09, 2020 at 09:38
It seems you ARE misreading me, or perhaps just overlooking some elements of my argument. You might want to read my reply to CeleRate above. I believe...
March 09, 2020 at 06:17
Influence at the level of potentiality is not control, it is simply potential to influence. If we are aware of this potential, if we are connected and...
March 09, 2020 at 04:10