Nick,
*" I am always troubled by the notion of "self-assembly" since the self that
is**
*
*assembling is never, by definition, the self that is assembled."*
By what definition? Your monist view that the self lacks ontological status in
the first place?
davew
On Wed, Oct 28, 2020, at 5:48 PM, thompnicks...@gmail.com wrote:
> Jon,
>
> Is a steam governor a case of downward causation?
>
> This question will reveal, no doubt, that I don't understand your previous
> answer, but perhaps others will explain it to me.
>
> I am always troubled by the notion of "self-assembly" since the self that is
> assembling is never, by definition, the self that is assembled.
>
> Perhaps I am getting tangled up in words again.
>
> n
>
> Nicholas Thompson
> Emeritus Professor of Ethology and Psychology
> Clark University
> thompnicks...@gmail.com
> https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson/
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Friam <friam-boun...@redfish.com> On Behalf Of jon zingale
> Sent: Wednesday, October 28, 2020 2:01 PM
> To: friam@redfish.com
> Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Getting You Libertarians' Goats
>
> Nick,
>
> Let's say I have a language designed to work with sticks, where for
> instance, it makes sense to name certain relations *Triangle*. Additionally,
> let's assume that the language is detailed enough to include less obvious
> relations such as those which relate sticks to trees to soil and water.
> Would it be cheap to narrowly define *downward causation* as the
> manipulation of the world in accordance with this language to produce new
> sticks?
>
> Consider as another example when one manipulates charge in bulk using analog
> filters. Here, a circuit designer may not need to know about spin or
> superposition or a lot of other details about the universe. In fact, the
> designer may not know how to write a "mid-frequency ranged filter" if they
> were only given a quantum mechanical view of the world. They may, however,
> know how to build such a filter if they are given appropriately shaped
> conductive surfaces and coils.
>
> My apologies in advance if this characterization (that of reducing *downward
> causation* to manipulation of a domain-specific language) is horribly
> flawed, but I spent this much time writing a response. So, there.
>
>
>
> --
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