Michael

I have done something else; I turned on the lights. You accepted this before, so why the about turn? Then what does it mean for some A to be the "gene...

I don't start it there. I'm only saying that I cause the lights to turn on by saying "Siri, turn on the lights". If this is true, which it is, then "s...

I'm not arbitrarily beginning any chain. I'm saying that I can cause the lights to turn on by saying "Siri, turn on the lights." Nowhere have I said t...

Unfortunately we haven't even reached this stage. He can't even accept that sound waves cause the cochlea to release neurotransmitters.

I cause many things. Your claim that A causes B only if A is uncaused is false, as is your claim that there are uncaused causes within the human body....

You can take it as me not engaging with an argument that I wasn't addressing.

It makes no sense to say that I cause the light to turn on but don't cause the to heat the filament in the bulb given that these are one and the same....

Yes. His defense of free speech argues that soundwaves do not cause the hairs in the inner ear to convert mechanical energy into electrical signals. I...

So I can turn on the lights by saying "Siri, turn on the lights." Therefore, I can cause the lights to turn on by saying "Siri, turn on the lights." T...

With Siri or by clapping my hands or by flicking a switch or by pulling a chord. There are many ways to turn on the lights. But I can turn on the ligh...

And I can turn on the lights. Because they're not relevant to the discussion. It should go without saying that I can only turn on the lights if there ...

The hacker's. I don't quite understand the question. All I am saying is that I cause the doors to open by saying "Siri, open the blinds." No, I don't....

Then saying "Siri, open the blinds" will cause the doors to open. An information technology expert. The "reliable" outcome is that my speech will caus...

It’s turned off or broken. Much like sometimes when I flick the light switch the light doesn’t turn on, perhaps because of faulty wiring or a power cu...

It's not as far as the causal influence goes. I turn on the lights by saying "Siri, turn on the lights" or by clapping my hands or by pushing a button...

I'm arguing against this claim of his: It's false. I can open the blinds by saying "Siri, open the blinds."

If eliminative materialism is true then mental states do not exist and everything is physical. If hidden variables explain quantum indeterminacy then ...

Your reasons do not address the issue at all. It's quite simple; if eliminative materialism is true and if hidden variables explain quantum indetermin...

So you accept that the appropriate speech can cause the lights to turn on or cause a voice-activated forklift to lift a heavy weight? But you also bel...

Nobody has to do anything (other than obey the law). But there are still expectations, e.g. men propose and women take their husband's surname.

I can turn on the lights by saying "Hey Siri, turn on the lights" or by clapping my hands or by pushing a button. Or are you going to argue that no hu...

He's also arguing that soundwaves cannot cause sense organs to send electrical signals to the brain. It's this argument of his that I have primarily b...

And this is a misguided understanding of causation, as I have been at pains to explain. Causal influence doesn't simply end after the immediate transf...

No, I'm a compatibilist. Your position, though, is unclear. You're a free will libertarian but also an eliminative materialist. I assume, then, that y...

And as I have explained, this is a misguided understanding of causation. I cause the bomb to explode by pushing a button, I cause the machine to turn ...

So you don't accept that the fly's movements cause the Venus flytrap to close its jaws and you don't accept that spoken words can cause a voice-activa...

And the fly causes it to close. The two are not mutually exclusive. Exactly like with machines. You're not addressing what I'm saying. I’m saying that...

Taking a step back for a moment, and re-addressing this, do you at least accept that my speech can cause a voice-activated forklift to lift a heavy we...

Are you saying that the fly walking inside a Venus flytrap does not cause the Venus flytrap's jaw to close? So? They can if we build them that way. Bu...

You're equivocating. It is true that the human organism is responsible for its heart beat and digestion but it is not prima facie true that its heart ...

You can’t simply assert that because the human organism as a whole can “choose to do otherwise” then the behaviour of its sense organs is not causally...

Why is that relevant? Matter is matter. All physical systems operate according to the same physical laws. You are engaging in special pleading when yo...

Then “our conversation” has only ever been your monologue as I’ve never said anything to the contrary.

The same is true of the machine with a radio receiver, but it’s still the case that if I send it a radio signal then I can causally influence its beha...

I am saying that NOS4A2's claim that speech has no causal power beyond the immediate transfer of kinetic energy in the inner ear is a complete misunde...

Okay. How is that relevant to anything I'm saying?

So what about my argument are you objecting to? You seem to think I'm saying something I'm not.

I am. What points? Your question asking me who deserves a medal? I don’t know why you’re asking me that as it has nothing to do with anything I’m argu...

What does that mean? Brains are just a bunch of interconnected neurons sending electrical and chemical signals to one another. There’s nothing above-a...

No we wouldn’t because our brains are not identical. There is always a reaction (unless they’re deaf). It’s just that not all reactions involve the mu...

Carrying on from this, I can't know what it feels like to give birth but I know that there is such a feeling, I know the public occasions that elicit ...

I already explained it with the analogy of the computers. How each computer responds to someone pressing the "A" key is determined by its internal str...

Strictly speaking the inverted spectrum problem doesn’t even require qualia. Even if colour experiences are reducible to particular neural activity it...

So what they actually did was measure the neural correlates of colour experience.

I'm not asking you to compare radio receivers to humans; I'm asking you to compare radio receivers to sense organs. Why is it that I can be said to ca...

Different in what relevant way? A plant is different to a computer, but that would be an insufficient justification to simply assert that the behaviou...

You're not answering the question. What's the relevant difference between a radio receiver and a sense organ such that I can be said to be the cause o...

It doesn't have to be a human. It could be that a rock fell onto the switch, in which case the rock caused the bomb to explode. But you are not answer...

Sounds like folk psychology to me. What's the relevant difference between a radio receiver and a sense organ such that I can be said to be the cause o...

I am being honest. Determinism applies to human organisms just as it applies to every other physical object and system in the universe. We're not spec...