Re: MD SQ-SQ coherence and the Biosphere.

From: Platt Holden (pholden@sc.rr.com)
Date: Thu Mar 25 2004 - 13:11:43 GMT

  • Next message: Leland Jory: "Re: MD secular humanism and dynamic quality"

    David M

    > This is wrong I think. See what Anthony says in his thesis
    > about Popper and propensities.

    From McWatt's paper: "Popper, when writing about the evolution of species,
    talks of 'preferences of organisms for certain possibilities' thus making
    them propensities . . ."

    Popper talks about species and organisms, i.e., life forms, not inorganic
    patterns.

    > It seems that all physical
    > systems are a mixture of static patterns and dynamic factors.
    > So the mountain might erode to the east or west, whether it
    > does one or the other is a dynamic matter and unpredicatable,
    > and where there is openness maybe there is choice, perhaps such
    > purposeful openness explains the anthropic problem of this
    > seemingly so well connected cosmos. See what Pirsig says about
    > purpose and causality. I think he has the answers here but fails to apply
    > them to the inorganic level.
     
    I think what you're describing has more to do with Laws of Probability
    than a response to DQ. We cannot predict who in a large group is going to
    die at a specified time, but we can predict that a certain percentage will
    die at various ages. The life insurance industry is built on this fact.
    Further, just because a specific event is unpredictable (on what side of a
    mountain erosion will occur ) doesn't mean ipso facto that Dynamic Quality
    is at work, especially in light of Pirsig's assertion that only a living
    being can "perceive and adjust" to DQ. As I've suggested before, change by
    itself doesn't imply the presence of or influence of DQ. Lots of static
    patterns involve change, the most widely cited example being a flowing
    river.

    Regards,
    Platt
     

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