On Sunday, September 20, 2026, at 2:18 PM, Aaron Nitzkin wrote: > Seriously. It's just a phrase. What would it be, if it is neither > deterministic nor random?
It would be *self-caused.* And no, I didn't invent that term; it refers to an idea that people have discussed and thought through. Don't assume it's impossible just because it's hard to wrap your mind around it. Human reasoning has a general horror of things that seem circular, but IMO the alternatives to allowing self-causation end up being equally incomprehensible or incoherent. This is a sign that the whole question (whatever its true answer) is getting beyond the abilities of our minds, and a large dose of humility is called for. If our clumsy little species happened to be capable of understanding everything about reality, I for one would be surprised. ------------------------------------------ Artificial General Intelligence List: AGI Permalink: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/T9e51fc70bbc4e9fc-Ma1ced9e366584b92658b3e52 Delivery options: https://agi.topicbox.com/groups/agi/subscription
