NOS4A2

I suspect that one who claims he and others can be moved by words is in some way is tacitly admitting guilt, namely, that he isn’t able to think for h...

Clearly they’re not. But who knows? Someone might come to agree.

I never thought any demonstration of your powers was forthcoming. They never are, despite the claims.

Given your powers, it should be easy to trick, persuade, incite, or provoke me into tricking, persuading, inciting, or provoking you into this admissi...

I would like you to admit that everything you’ve been writing is nonsense. How would I go about that?

Do I have to put the words in a certain order or something?

Maybe you can teach me your magic. How can I compel you to do what I want?

Did someone convince you to say that, or do you have a mind of your own?

You claimed “it is an empirical fact that we do persuade, convince, provoke, incite, coerce, teach, trick, etc. with our words”. So then persuade, con...

Yet this evidence completely contradicts your claim that “it is an empirical fact that we do persuade, convince, provoke, incite, coerce, teach, trick...

“In certain contexts” and “in some circumstances”—the weasel words keep piling on You could write a whole page of inciting and coercive language and i...

My literal argument was: “The obvious falsification of your theory is that you’ve persuaded and influenced precisely no one.” Your literal argument wa...

You’re telling Siri to turn on the lights. The device is turning on the lights. Sure, but it isn’t the case that you cause changes and behaviors in ot...

I know what those words mean. I even wrote a thread on them, and each of them have a metaphorical sense in their etymology. Influence, for instance, w...

I’m asking you what physical properties words in the form of sound waves or written symbols have that other soundwaves and symbols don’t, so that you ...

Then how do you persuade or convince or incite with some symbols, or soundwaves, but cannot with others? What physical, measurable property is in thos...

I just don’t know what “cause” means in the context of a discussion regarding moving other human beings with words. Philosophers have debated the natu...

Trump ends sanctions against Syria. Hopefully they can utilize the moment for reconstruction and prosperity. Make Syria great again! https://www.cnn.c...

I’m.not so sure about that. But then again Michael can’t define cause. So I guess anything goes.

Yeah, you’re not convincing me, that’s for sure. Just another reason to show you can’t move anything above and beyond the kinetic energy inherent in t...

And you understand that the UN Security Council and other western nations found that the Rwandan military were supporting M23, and actively participat...

I’m not sure what you’d call it, but it certainly doesn’t describe all the interactions involved. What does “cause” mean? You’ve been equivocating bet...

Yes, in ordinary language you’ve turned on the lights. I accept everyday ordinary speech. But you haven’t ignited the filament. You haven’t sent a cur...

Another win in the Supreme Court, this time in regards to birthright citizenship and “nation-wide injunctions”. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/rcna1...

Yes, I was talking about the conflict between the DRC and Rwandan-backed rebels. Of course you’d pooh-pooh such efforts because your folk devil Trump ...

Another US brokered peace agreement, this time between the Democratic republic of Congo and Rwanda. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c1e0ggw7d43o.amp...

All you’ve done is vibrated a diaphragm in the microphone. You’ve caused that movement, sure, but you haven’t moved or affected anything else. So no, ...

Then why are you choosing yourself as the cause and not your mother, or the Big Bang, or Siri? Turning on the lights doesn’t take an infinite amount o...

I never made such a claim. It is you who is arbitrarily beginning causal chains and events despite saying there is only one beginning. What I claimed ...

There may be more, this time in Bahrain. Perhaps also UAE. The mullahs might not be done yet. "Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, a Gulf State very c...

"Iran coordinated the attacks on the American air base in Qatar with Qatari officials and gave advanced notice that attacks were coming to minimize ca...

Iran strikes are apparently imminent, perhaps headed towards the US base in Qatar. I guess we’ll see what sorts of mettle and munitions Iran has left....

And here we have it. The Big Bang begins the process of raising your arm and turning on the lights. So you’ve caused nothing, really.

You can turn on the lights. You cannot move the components of the device, the energy within the system, or heat the filament in a bulb with your voice...

Yes, you can turn on lights, but it doesn’t mean you’re in there “causally influencing” the inner workings of a device. I don’t know the answer. I kno...

In Canada the provincial and federal leaders are negotiating with each other about lowering the steep and stifling provincial trade barriers, fast-tra...

Not without Siri, apparently. They're not relevant to your argument, but they are relevant to turning on lights. In any case, that's not the only obje...

You’re thinking like the Ayatollah now. I think that’s the point. Meanwhile, other Iranians are clamoring for diplomatic solutions while the senile ol...

You can move diaphragms in microphones and flick switches. As far as influence goes, that’s not much. I understand it, I just think causal reasoning i...

I better understand. But where do you believe the meaning lies?

I don’t follow. It’s far too abstract for my limited imagination and intelligence. For me, the only question that needs be answered is “what object or...

They do address the issue that we’ve been discussing for pages. But you’re causing me to not understand. As far as I know eliminative materialism is t...

I believe you can cause the lights to turn on, yes. I’ve avoided and and am satisfied and for the reasons I’ve stated.

In 1984 the Two Minutes Hate was a form of catharsis. Do you feel better having vented your anger in a display of collective emotion?

To be fair, it is counterintuitive because for the entirety of linguistic human history we have thought and spoken about language as having supernatur...

Yes I do. Yes, I would have an emotional reaction to the news. I am disgusted and angry even considering your example. But it is I who evokes the emot...

No, humans have invented various mechanisms and lights that can do nothing else but respond to their actions, and therefore their state of on or off i...

This is what I mean. There are no such magnetic effects, forces, dimensions nor tendencies in the words. They do not carry anything. We can devise any...

I disagree that words are evocative, or have any powers that can “evoke” this or that response. For example, if you read “evocative language” in a dia...

Why doesn’t “causal influence” end after the transfer of kinetic energy? Does the soundwave have some other causal power over-and-above that transfer?...