I guess I need to know what "cause" means to you. To me it means that ceteris paribus, if you havent flapped your lips in that manner I would not have passed you the salt.
n On Wed, Feb 4, 2026 at 4:01 PM glen <[email protected]> wrote: > Not that communication is impossible; that it doesn't exist. Granted, I've > advocated Lewisian possible worlds. So it's understandable you'd impute > {¬X⊢¬◇X}. But I don't think I agree with Lewis. Just 'cause something's > possible doesn't mean it obtains, here or elsewhere. And something that's > possible *could* exist. (Is that tautological? I don't think so. Usually, > when we say "It's possible", we're implicitly asserting that it *isn't* but > could have been. Monkeys may fly out my butt, as the kids used to say.) > > Communication may be possible, for some definition of it. For the > definitions I've seen, it doesn't exist. > > My best definition of it, that I might buy exists, is post-hoc > rationalization of some overly simplified, just-so story about the causes > of some present state. You flapped your lips. I gave you a salt shaker. If > you think your lip flapping *caused* me to give you the salt shaker, there > aren't many ways I could flap my lips to dissuade you of that story. > > If that post-hoc rationalization is what we mean by "communication", then > yes, it may well exist. Anything's possible. > > On 2/4/26 1:07 PM, Nicholas Thompson wrote: > > Dogs notwithstanding, if Glen says that communication is impossible, > he's just wrong. I am sure he is saying SOMETHING TRUE, because Glen > usually does. I can imagine specifications and qualifications of that > statement that are true. "Its impossible to communicate with somebody who > isnt listening" Thats true enough. Its possible that we in FRIAM have > just run out of reasons to LISTEN. That may be what Jon's post and his > reference to Ezra Klein was about. We definitely have a shortage of > listeners in todays marketplace of ideas. Funny the market has not > responded to that need. I am now paying at least one person to read my > substack. Nick > > > -- > ¡sıɹƎ ןıɐH ⊥ ɐןןǝdoɹ ǝ uǝןƃ > ὅτε oi μὲν ἄλλοι κύνες τοὺς ἐχϑροὺς δάκνουσιν, ἐγὰ δὲ τοὺς φίλους, ἵνα > σώσω. > > > .- .-.. .-.. / ..-. --- --- - . .-. ... / .- .-. . / .-- .-. --- -. --. / > ... --- -- . / .- .-. . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. > FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv > Fridays 9a-12p Friday St. Johns Cafe / Thursdays 9a-12p Zoom > https://bit.ly/virtualfriam > to (un)subscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com > FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ > archives: 5/2017 thru present > https://redfish.com/pipermail/friam_redfish.com/ > 1/2003 thru 6/2021 http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/ > -- Nicholas S. Thompson Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Ethology Clark University [email protected] https://wordpress.clarku.edu/nthompson https://substack.com/@monist
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