On 22 August 2013 15:23, chris peck <chris_peck...@hotmail.com> wrote: > > Hi Chris / Stathis > > I probably shouldn't have used the word adaptive. > > I think Craig is arguing : > > 1) whatever 'feels'/psychological states emerge from the universe must be > compatible with its fundamental nature. > > 2) Anxiety implies that I really could avoid some feared event. > > 3) But que sera sera in a determined universe. what will be will be. I can't > avoid my fate. > > consequently, anxiety can not emerge within a determined universe because of > 2 and 1. > > Initially I took issue with 2) in the following way: I felt that uncertainty > about a unavoidable fate would provide space for anxiety to emerge. But the > more I thought about Craig's position the less tenable I thought this was. I > think his position is very compelling (if I understand it). If nothing has > ever avoided a fate how has the sense that this can be achieved emerged? > What is it about the universe that allows for this delusion? What is it > built out of?
It's not a delusion. The animals that are anxious about predators avoid them and pass on their genes, while the ones that aren't anxious don't avoid them, get eaten, and don't pass on their genes. How is this more problematic in a deterministic world? > Anyway the questions flooded in. So i thought what if 'anxiety' doesn't > imply the ability to avoid a fate. Maybe its just an epiphenomenal 'feel' > that floats above psychological uncertainty and isn't really susceptible to > further analysis. That didn't seem to conflict with a determined universe > readily. But you *can* avoid your fate in a determined universe. If you were not anxious, your fate would be different, so anxiety helps you avoid it. This is so whether or not the counterfactual is realised in a multiverse. > Chris, as for whether any of this is plausible, probable etc. I'm afraid I > wouldn't even begin to know how to assess that. And to be honest I'm not > even sure whether Craig would accept my paraphrase of his argument. > > All the best. -- Stathis Papaioannou -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to everything-list+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to everything-list@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
