tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post6254801928018195903..comments2024-03-26T02:35:07.114-07:00Comments on A Slice of Mind: Thinking with a deterministic perspectiveAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-2127449881651996572012-06-28T10:21:42.854-07:002012-06-28T10:21:42.854-07:00Happily, determinism only works if time is linear,...Happily, determinism only works if time is linear, and unidirectional. If it isn't, all bets are off. For instance, if all time exists at the same time, and our perception is the only thing that is actually linear, then all choices/decisions were made at the same time, and therefore have no particular causal relationship, except in our minds. This allows each choice/decision to be a free choice/decision as it is not merely produced by what went before. This might even allow infinite choice.<br /><br />One way that this might work would be for time to actually be a multi-dimensional entity, of which we are only capable of viewing one, or more, dimensions. We would be equivalent to flatlanders, except our lack of perception would concern time. Our lack of perception would also be what makes some of us determinists, not being able to believe in time events that we cannot perceive.<br /><br />This circumstance could, if it is actually true, be one of the reasons that religious people believe. We might be living in what they perceive, subconsciously, as the mind of god. Omnipresent, omniscient, but not omnipotent, in our linear perception, because no change is ever possible. Because all changes, choices, and decisions, happened at the same time, our view of time is the only thing that changes.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-48542816190390127982012-06-10T10:36:22.783-07:002012-06-10T10:36:22.783-07:00That's great news. When you do read it, I real...That's great news. When you do read it, I really hope that you enjoy it; it certainly made a big impression on my own outlook on life, especially this counterpoint between freedom and living life with 'responsibleness'.<br /><br />Looking forward to your next blog!Ben Papworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173488226033260026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-49630570458913809272012-06-09T21:26:09.149-07:002012-06-09T21:26:09.149-07:00:) Yes, they really do!
I went to the library to...:) Yes, they really do! <br /><br />I went to the library to find that book you had suggested but they didn't have it. since then I encountered someone else who randomly suggested that I read the *SAME* book you suggested. He plans to lend me it the next time I see him.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13876754891701386069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-10962965186810449872012-06-07T20:51:21.014-07:002012-06-07T20:51:21.014-07:00A friend of mine from my home town has had a hard ...A friend of mine from my home town has had a hard time trying to get a job of any kind. He even has training in machine work but no one is hiring him. It is also hard for him to move out since you need money to get a place to live. it seems no matter how much he tries he has no such luck. Every job he finds has always been temporary or they let him go. That was a few months ago and I have not heard from him sense. It may not help that he has becoem cynical over the years but he does what he can to help his parents out. All I can do is give him encouragement. Last time I met him he says that there are some job opportunities for him at some center. <br /><br />I believe that life is a combination of personal interaction with outside interactions that can work for or agianst you. As you say everyone is interdependent on each other. Some more time remove from you then others. When people tell me for example that nature/fate/god etc will give me a girlfriend it bothers me. Does't this take away any meaning for either of us to interact for good and for ill? Sure this may sound comforting at first but if we met on fate what is the point? Sorry if my rant makes no sense. I'll clarify for those who ask.johnsuttonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04548989640535234663noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-22416549371523640882012-06-07T15:38:08.496-07:002012-06-07T15:38:08.496-07:00Thank you for more food for thought.
Cleanthes, t...Thank you for more food for thought.<br /><br />Cleanthes, the Stoic, used the simile that a man is like a dog tied to a cart; while the cart is travelling in the direction he wishes to go, he may wander and feel genuinely free, but should the cart change direction and the leash go tight, he has no choice but to follow.<br /><br />Given that, over the last century, our own great grand-, grand-parents and parents would have witnessed, and perhaps been overwhelmed, as the cart turned through the Great Depression, world wars and the threat of nuclear annihilation, don't these simplistic proclamations that having a positive mental attitude will improve your position seem silly and trite by comparison!<br /><br />PS. No book recommendations this time! Don't wish to be known as 'the book dude'!Ben Papworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173488226033260026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-8322790699992490332012-06-07T14:43:51.787-07:002012-06-07T14:43:51.787-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ben Papworthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01173488226033260026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-4229167846685808712012-06-07T13:45:29.400-07:002012-06-07T13:45:29.400-07:00Yes! Exactly! While I do believe in the power of...Yes! Exactly! While I do believe in the power of positive thinking to a point, luck has a lot to do with it, too. I'd also like to add that the sad fact is that we're leaning toward particular "soft skill" sets that can't be necessarily taught, or that people struggle with, and our system penalizes those without them regardless of whether or not they can do the job. It also doesn't help that the system is gamed so that power protects itself, and very rarely do people, even in America, move up in economic class.Austincovellohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13685474977478547454noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2949964747410221992.post-91737405775759788912012-06-07T11:59:28.005-07:002012-06-07T11:59:28.005-07:00It's what you do with what you have that makes...It's what you do with what you have that makes you a hero or a bum or just another joe. The environment only sets boundary and initial conditions, the will defines the path...I think.doilyfilmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09558591356637105528noreply@blogger.com