tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post3357470844371848185..comments2023-10-24T17:21:16.565+02:00Comments on Sounds in the Hickory Wind: Why are My Eyes on the Front of My Head?The Hickory Windhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-11804917821691353052009-09-25T11:22:25.708+02:002009-09-25T11:22:25.708+02:00There is still a chain of causes and efects, thoug...There is still a chain of causes and efects, though not all of them may be readily predictable beforehand nor discernible a posteriori; and, although one may suggest many causes that conribute to the hanging, 'most people' would instinctively and strongly identify the primary cause as the will of the hanged man to commit the murder, rather any one of the other circumstances which, had they been different, might have resulted in his not killing his victim.The Hickory Windhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-8524362932642388872009-09-22T22:29:29.542+02:002009-09-22T22:29:29.542+02:00Moment in Time
"What is Fate?" Nasr...Moment in Time<br /><br /> "What is Fate?" Nasrudin was asked by a Scholar.<br /><br /> "An endless succession of intertwined events, each influencing the other."<br /><br /> "That is hardly a satisfactory answer. I believe in cause and effect."<br /><br /> "Very well," said the Mulla, "look at that." He pointed to a procession passing in the street."<br /><br /> "That man is being taken to be hanged. Is that because someone gave him a silver piece and enabled him to buy the knife with which he committed the murder; or because someone saw him do it; or because nobody stopped him?"<br /><br />(from a Sufi story, told by Idries Shah)Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-5280096208820375192009-09-22T00:23:50.509+02:002009-09-22T00:23:50.509+02:00@JonnyN & Vincent
The distinction is between ...@JonnyN & Vincent<br /><br />The distinction is between 'a rabbit has big ears because they help it hear predators' and 'rabbits can hear well because they have big ears.' It matters because it confuses people's attempts to understand the subject.<br /><br />Most people don't distinguish between types of cause, and assume that a purpose presupposes a purposer. And our current knowledge of evolution suggests that one is not required to explain what we see.<br /><br />Or perhaps there is a purposer, one who set in motion and guided the series of changes that let to, inter alia, the zebra's stripes.<br /><br />Science has nothing much to say about God, because He cannot be reached by observation of the physical world. Which doesn't stop some of them trying- Richard Dawkins sounds not so much like an atheist as someone with a visceral hatred of God. Whereas Máximo Sandín probably does try to use poor science to support his moral beliefs about the natural world.The Hickory Windhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02099970252405596982noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-35608471736681372872009-09-21T06:51:25.944+02:002009-09-21T06:51:25.944+02:00According to Aristotle, there are four causes: mat...According to Aristotle, there are four causes: material, formal, efficient and final. He says all other causes serve the final cause (<i>telos</i>).<br /><br />Through science we have learned the efficient cause of the zebra stripes. It is natural selection. The final cause (purpose) is easy to see: camouflage.<br /><br />Final cause is not a matter for science. Human beings using their common sense rather than specific training in how to see scientifically, see final causes. This too has an efficient cause (survival value).<br /><br />If scientists maintain that nothing is outside their scope, that's their hubris. And they can't have it both ways. Since scientists are also human beings with common sense, they have to maintain boundaries, so as to think and speak scientifically within the discipline, and like the rest of us in normal life. Perhaps this is where Maximo Sandin has strayed?Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1707444165003305798.post-18002222323567963582009-09-21T02:24:00.289+02:002009-09-21T02:24:00.289+02:00Huh, "if there is a purpose, there must be so...Huh, "if there is a purpose, there must be someone or something that can both conceive the purpose and bring about the means of achieving it".......<br /><br />True, there is a valid distinction between "a rabbit has big ears so that it can hear predators" and "a rabbit has big ears because big ears help it to hear predators", but I don't think people confuse the second with the first too often do they? Maybe they do.... Who is usually seen as intending the change - God?JonnyNhttp://www.jonathannewton.net/noreply@blogger.com