Bertvan
> If
>every action were merely based upon contextual factors, I suspect nature
>would be monotonous. It would resemble a universe run by computers - without
>growth or spontaneity. Nature's diversity is the result of creative
>exceptions - whether those exceptions are playful, selfish, altruistic,
>rational, adventurous or whatever.
Chris
This tells us a *lot* more about your mind than it does about the
possibilities of a deterministic Universe. It is a trivial matter to prove
that a deterministic universe can be every bit as rich and varied as an
indeterministic universe. In fact, that's one of the *main* reasons
indeterminism could not be proved even if it were *true*; any alleged kind
of indeterminism can be emulated to *any* finite degree of accuracy
(billions upon billions of decimal places in the smallest units of possible
measurement, if necessary) by an *absolutely* deterministic universe. This
is why I would reject the Copenhagen interpretation of quantum physics,
even if I did not have reasons for rejecting it on logical grounds.
In short, there is no *empirical* way to distinguish indeterminism from
merely *unknown* determinism. Thus, all such arguments for indeterminism
are arguments from ignorance, from the *lack* of knowledge of deterministic
mechanisms, and not from positive evidence of indeterminism. Indeterminism
has no empirically distinguish characteristics because it is a failure of
causation, not a positive fact. The only reason it even has the burden of
proof is that supporters of it agree that some things *are* deterministic,
and thus must prove that there are *exceptions* to the determinism that
would otherwise have to be accepted as universal. But, because there cannot
be positive evidence for it, it would be *very* difficult to prove it, even
if it *were* true.
If you don't believe it, think about it. Imagine *anything* that you think
does or could happen by *indeterministic* processes, and then spend some
time coming up with a few dozen ways that the *same* results could be
achieved by strictly deterministic means.
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